There are other circumstances which led me to Sir, the compacts were totally different. One of suppose that this was a propitious moment for ma- them, the Cuban convention, would not have reking this effort; and it does seem to me, from the ceived, I am sure, a single vote in the Senate, if character of the recent debate, that if it should now the Executive had been ill advised enough to send || finally terminate without any allusion to those it here. The other was confirmed by a majority circumstances, it would, as I stated last Thurs-largely exceeding that which was required by the day, leave upon the public mind, not only an in- Constitution. The Senator from Delaware has correct, but a somewhat painful impression as to said that he concurs in the principles of the letter the real state of affairs in that part of the world, of the 1st of December, and he has shown you and our connection with them; that the country that the policy pursued by him towards Cuba was would be alarmed with the idea that the state of precisely the same as that pursued by the late Adaffairs is more critical in that quarter than it really ministration. If there is the difference which the is. To rectify this impression is the main object Senator from Illinois thinks there is between some of my addressing the Senate at this time. of the doctrines of the Cuban letter and the principles of the treaty, I should feel that it behoved me quite as much to look to my letter, as it does the Senator from Delaware to look to his treaty; and instead of attacking him, I should think it was much wiser for me to look around to find how I might fortify myself. In fact, my friend from Delaware is one of the last men with whom I should wish to engage in a parliamentary warfare, even with the advantage of the alliance of a leader so vigorous and skillful as the Senator from Illinois. I should fear that that alliance would prove an "entangling alliance" to me, which, if not absolutely unconstitutional, it might be very unadvisable one for me to enter into. Before I do this, I wish to make my acknowledgment to the distinguished Senator from Illinois, [Mr. DOUGLAS,] whom I do not at this moment see in his place, for the very complimentary notice he was pleased to take of the letter addressed by me on the 1st of December to the Ministers of France and England on the subject of the tripartite convention relating to Cuba. If I could think that he did not, in the warmth of the argument in which he was engaged, overstate the merits of that letter, I should certainly feel that, with the favorable notice taken of it by so distinguished a judge, my highest ambition as a public man ought to be satisfied. It was a subject of great difficulty, importance, and delicacy, dividing to some extent the opinions of the people, and it was my desire in that matter, to find out if possible, and to assert a line of principle and of policy which would be generally approved by the country; which would show that it was possible to reconcile the progressive spirit and tendency of the country and of the age with the preservation of the public faith, with the sanctity of the public honor, and with the dic-|| tates of an enlightened and liberal conservatism. This was the object which I had in view, and if I shall be thought in any degree to have attained it, my utmost ambition will be satisfied. Allow me to say one other word, as I have alluded to this topic, of a personal nature. Called as I was, in the month of November last, without a day's preparation, after a retirement of seven years from all active participation in political life, to occupy-but alas! sir, how far from fillingthe place of one of the foremost statesmen of the age; called upon within three or four weeks, the greater part of which time was passed in the bustle of an inn, without a book to refer to, without a leisure moment for research or inquiry, to take up such important questions as the Lobos Islands, the Crescent City affair, the difficulty about the fisheries, and then this last great subject of a tripartite convention; to dispose of all these questions under the daily pressure of the routine of the Department, enough of itself to put to the test the stoutest capacity of labor and endurance, I did feel that this was a task of no ordinary magnitude, and one that should entitle a person to some charitable consideration for any imperfection or defect in the performance of his duty. And, sir, if in the State papers which I was obliged, in very rapid succession, to produce, it should be found, under the severe scrutiny to which they must of necessity be subjected, that some things,-as I understand is alleged to be the case,-are omitted which had better been said, that some things are put forward which had better been reserved for other opportunities, and some things stated, abstractly true, but without sufficient qualification and guards, if anything of this shall be found, I trust that due allowance will be made; as I also confidently trust it will still be found that there is nothing committing the honor or the interest of the country. The honorable Senator from Illinois cited some sentences from my letter of the 1st of December, 1852, which he thought were in direct contradiction, on the ground of constitutional principle, with some of the provisions of the treaty which was negotiated by my friend from Delaware. Now, sir, I think that if a due allowance is made for the entire difference in the nature of the compacts, and of the relations of the contracting parties to the subject-matter, the total dissimilarity in the geographical and historical circumstances that give the character to the two conventions, it will be allowed that the constitutional doubt which I expressed-for it was but a doubt-and which applied in the one case, does not apply in the other. But it is time that I should proceed to the exposition which I propose to make, and which I must forewarn you, Mr. President, in the outset, is to be of a plain, business-like character, which it would be idle to seek to invest with any rhetorical attractions. Our relations with Central America have for some time formed one of the most important topics of consideration within the whole range of our foreign relations,—an importance out of all proportion to the consequence of these States themselves; that is, either to their population, to their political weight, or to any commercial relations which we either have or ever can expect to have with them. The five States, Guatemala, San Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, all together do not contain a population greater than that of the single State of Ohio. And that population, instead of being compact, homogeneous, brought together, is divided into five States, with their capitals remote from each other, with very inadequate means of communication, and in other respects wholly disabled from making itself felt in any relations with foreign countries, like the population of the State, the noble State, which I have just named. The State with which we have been brought most into connection, that of Nicaragua, according to the account of Mr. Squier, has but two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, and ten thousand only of these are of the pure European blood, while the rest, the remaining two hundred and forty thousand, are of mixed races, colors, and castes. SENATE. three hundred thousand; and Honduras, in her turn, is sending a military force to dislodge the English wood-cutters upon her disputed frontier. Sir, these feuds, these border wars, and contentions, can produce, they do produce, no other result than a series of bloody revolutions, which, besides leaving them in a state of almost semibarbarism, has the effect of disheartening their friends in every other part of the world. These States have formed, or at least have endeavored to form, their political institutions after the model of our own. While they might have learned from us that a Federal union which, leaving everything that belongs to local administration to the separate States, confers on the central government only those matters that are of general concernment; in short, a government like ours, if wisely and purely administered, may be the strongest government on the earth, as I believe ours in the long run will turn out to be; on the other hand, there is no form of government so weak, so hopeless, so contemptible as that of small separate States lying side by side without harmony, without concert, and employing all their energies in making war upon each other. Though there was a great interest taken by the United States in the fortunes of the Spanish American colonies when they threw off the yoke of the mother country, and asserted their independencean interest mainly inspired by the kindling eloquence of Henry Clay-there was perhaps no part of these vast territorial possessions that excited less interest than the five States into which the ancient kingdom of Guatemala resolved itself. They were small separately and small collectively. We had little or no commercial intercourse with them. They had no great places of resort to attract the curiosity of the traveler; in fact, we knew but little about them; they were almost lost upon the map of America. In 1822, the year after the revolution was effected, the State of San Salvador passed a formal act in her Legislature providing for her incorporation into the American Union; she sent two commissioners to Washington to carry that act into effect. I do not know that the least notice was taken of them. I suppose they were treated with personal civility, as a matter of course, but no communication was made to Congress upon the subject. I am not sure that any official response was made to it, even from the Executive. I am inclined to think there was none. At subsequent periods, and under various Administrations, attempts were made to enlist the active interference of the United States in favor of the Central American Republics, but never with the least success under any Administration. I do not say this reproachfully; it is no matter of reproach. Looking back for a period of nearly thirty years, upon the history of these countries, I cannot find the time nor the occasion when we could have enlisted actively in their affairs with any prospect of doing them the least good, or without departing from all the safe and settled principles of policy of our own country. I do not say this by way of disparagement. I do not mean to argue that our relations with these States are unimportant because they are small. They are incidentally of great magnitude. I do not undervalue these little Republics. They have had But at length the time came; at length an era everything to contend with. They were educated opened, not only in our own history but theirs, in the worst possible political school, that is, the and in the history of the whole world. You know old Spanish colonial régime. They have strug- that I refer to the acquisition of California, and the gled into independence under the greatest incon- discovery of its gold. Then, sir, an intense neveniences and obstacles. They are in their in- cessity was immediately felt for the speediest and fancy. They will grow, I have no doubt, and most economical and most convenient routes of prosper. They have a beautiful position, lying communication between the Atlantic and the Pabetween the two great oceans, with some of cific oceans-between the Atlantic States and our the finest ports upon either shore. Their climate, new acquisitions on the shores of the great sea. for a tropical climate, is for the most part salu-Then, sir, the tide of emigration-I cannot combrious and agreeable. They have a fertile soil which yields all the valuable products of the tropics, and they have mines of silver and gold; they have lakes and rivers which furnish facilities of communication; they have agriculture and some commerce; and they have made some progress in the arts of civilization. But they have yet a great deal to learn; and it will be for their permanent advantage, if in the result of their communication with other Powers more advanced than themselves, they shall derive some important les-nothing practical had been done. But now it was sons. Their internal feuds are deplorable, and their incessant border wars are a drawback upon all progress. While I am speaking, the State of Guatemala, with a population of eight hundred thousand, is marching an army of six thousand men against her sister State of Honduras with pare it to anything else but what I have witnessed a hundred times on the sea-shore-the tide of emigration, like the tides of the ocean, went pouring down the coast, swelling over every rock and every shoal, rushing into every inlet, turning back the currents of the rivers, and seeking by a kind of irresistible, moral necessity an outlet into the Pacific ocean. The project of a canal had often been started before, propositions had been made, charters applied for, surveys undertaken; but plain that the time had come when something practical must be done. Attempts were commenced, and pretty soon we heard of small steamers that were navigating the inland streams and lakes of Central America, and companies of pilgrims of both sexes and of all ages from the United States, 32D CONG.....3D SESS. were seen winding their way through those dark tropical forests, through the branches of which the rays of the sun had never penetrated since creation. A charter for a canal was soon granted by Nicaragua to a company of American citizens, and if no political difficulties had existed, and if Central America had been occupied by a population like that which poured the waters of Lake Erie into the bed of the Hudson at Albany, I do not know that it would be extravagant to say, that at this very moment three-masted vessels of twenty feet draught would be navigating the waters of Lake Nicaragua, on their way to the Pacific. But unfortunately political obstacles did exist obstacles of all kinds. There were dissensions between the neighboring States of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. There was a difference between Nicaragua and the British Government, assuming to be the protector of the Mosquito Indians; and jealousies, it must be said, were entertained-unfounded jealousies, I think-but jealousies were sincerely entertained between the United States and Great Britain-that each of these great maritime Powers was desirous of obtaining some exclusive advantage to itself in reference to the opening of this route of interoceanic communication. Now, sir, it was a great object, as I understand it, of the treaty negotiated on the part of this Government by my friend from Delaware, to remove these difficulties, particularly so far as the United States and Great Britain were concerned; and to establish the principle that neither of these great Powers wished for any separate and exclusive advantage. That treaty was negotiated precisely on the principles that had governed every movement and every step which had been taken from the first by the United States, in reference to artificial interoceanic communication. think, it was the right principle; that is, that neither party would seek any exclusive advantage; and that the two great Powers would unite, so far as depended upon them, in opening this great pathway to the commerce of the whole world. As I It is a point which I think has not received sufficient attention, viz: that if the whole matter was to be peaceably disposed of, it was absolutely necessary that such an understanding should take place between the United States and Great Britain. The United States could not take a grant of exclusive privileges from Nicaragua, because Nicaragua was not in a condition to give such a grant. She claimed an unbroken sovereignty over the whole route. She was satisfied that her claim was good, and perhaps we were satisfied that it was good. Í think myself that it was; but it was not uncontested. There was another great Power that denied the validity of the claim; there was a great Power that set up rival pretensions, and it was necessary that these should be disposed of; and that, as I said, was the great object, or one of the great objects effected by the treaty of the 19th of April, 1850. And I will say this,-I wish to do no more and no less than justice to Great Britain,-although she did set up this claim, and although we think it unfounded, yet in reference to the canal, she set it up only to waive it. She did not make any use of this pretension to obstruct the execution of the charter which Nicaragua had given. She said in effect, that Nicaragua had no right to give such a charter, because she did not own the territory for the whole distance. But she did not use her rival claim to obstruct that charter. On the contrary, it was one of the leading objects of the convention of the 19th of April, 1850, to give the assent of Great Britain to the execution of that charter which was granted to American citizens. She gave her own consent in the form of obtaining the assent of the Mosquito Indians, over whom she claimed a protectorate. It was only a form of giving her own consent. She not only gave her own consent, and that of the Mosquito Indians, but she undertook to use her influence, in conjunction with the United States, to obtain that of Costa Rica; so that whatever we may think of her rights as the protector of the Mosquito Indians, she availed herself of them, not to obstruct, but to aid the work. Now, as to the protectorate which Great Britain claims it is her right and her duty to exercise over the Mosquito Indians, my friend from Delaware has characterized it very well. Using the famous motto of Junius, he has called this Mosquito king | Special Session-Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. dom nominis umbra, the shadow of à name. And "From a very early period the Mosquito Indians had SENATE. a century and a half, the whole commercial world took sides against Spain. We now are inclined to sympathize with her, we think but meanly of this Mosquito protectorate, and we regard the occupation of those islands and these establishments on the main by Great Britain as acts of injustice and violence. But it was not thought so then. The whole commercial world, exclusive of Spain and her allies, sympathized with England, and no part of the world more than the English colonies, now the United States. I have been amused in reading the old colonial journals to see the effusions of the loyal feeling constantly poured out from these colonies, when the public mind was greatly excited in England upon subjects of this kind. On that memorable occasion, which you recollect from the history of those times, when a certain Captain Jenkins was brought upon the floor of Parliament, and exhibited his mutilated ears, and a fragment which had been torn from one of them, and produced such an ex After this account which the British Minister for Foreign Affairs gives of the Mosquito kingdom and of the Mosquito king, I think it would be wasting the time of the Senate of the United States for me to bestow many words to prove the inanity of the king and kingdom. Nevertheless, it was really an ancient affair. There was something of history in it. It had a pedigree. It ran back two centuries, and Great Britain maintained, appa-citement, that England, against the opinion of the rently in good faith, that in the course of these two centuries she has contracted certain obligations and duties towards these Mosquito Indians, now reduced to a mere handful, and they in the most wretched condition, which she does not feel herself at liberty to disregard. Prime Minister, was thrown into a war with Spain, "You, gallant VERNON, saw Sir, it was owing to nothing but the yearnings of a fond maternal heart that our beloved Washington himself, for whom a warrant as midshipman in the royal navy had been obtained, did not, a few years later, enlist himself in those disastrous wars, with an equal prospect of sacrificing his life in the support of the system of which this wretched Mosquito protectorate was a part. This Mosquito kingdom in its origin and progress is really a little more important than it might otherwise be thought. It played a very important part in the history of the world. It was a prominent incident in the Spanish colonial system, which for a century and a half gave a character to the politics of the whole civilized world. America having been discovered by the great navigator who sailed under Spanish auspices, Spain possessed herself of the largest and the noblest part of the continent. From California to Cape Horn, with the exception of Brazil, everything fell into her hands. It was not merely the largest and fairest part, but it was the part which contained within itself those tropical treasures, and especially those treasures of silver and gold which have in all times overmastered the imaginations of men. Why, sir, I believe such was the state of things in the seventeenth century, that the whole exportable product of what is now known as the United States, did not exceed one half a million of dollars annually, and that, I need not tell you, was perhaps no more than half the amount contained in one of the treasure ships which were regularly dispatched from Vera Cruz to Cadiz. Spain locked up all this treasure beneath the bolts and bars of her colonial monopoly. She did no more with respect to her colonies than England with respect to hers. It was the ancient colonial system; but the productions of the Spanish colonies were so much more important than those of England, that the whole commercial world sought its revenge by endeavoring to force a contraband trade with the Spanish colonies. This trade was carried on by the wholesale and retail, by private individuals and by armed squadrons, by adventurers in whom the trader, the buccaneer, and the pirate were so much mixed up, that it was hard to say which character prevailed. After Jamaica was conquered, in the time of Cromwell, that island became the basis of these operations. Spain of course sought to defend herself, and she not only instituted a line of guarda costas all along her shores to drive off every vessel that was seen hov-minus, the port of San Juan, fell within the limits ering in those waters, as if a pestilence lurked in her sails-for such was the detestable character of this ancient colonial system-but she also undertook to institute a right of search of any merchant vessel which should show itself within a considerable distance of the Spanish coast. Of course this led to infinite collisions. Wars were constantly breaking out; in these wars islands were seized, and establishments were formed upon the main. Roatan and the other Bay Islands were captured by Admiral Vernon in the first half of the last century. When the war ceased, these islands would be surrendered, and the establishments given up, or pretended to be given up. But the peace would prove to be hollow truce, the same system of forcing a contraband trade would recommence, the same right of search would be instituted, war would break out again, and then the same circle of operations be repeated. It is but fair to say that in this long struggle of This was the origin, this the character of this Mosquito claim, carried on in defiance of the power of Spain, as long as the power of Spain existed, and after the Spanish colonies threw off the yoke, carried on in defiance, or with the acquiescence of the coterminous States. Such I understand to have been its origin, such its history, reduced at the present day to very small dimensions, the state of affairs having wholly changed, and the English Government having no longer any interest or any motive in adhering to the protectorate. Such she assures us is the case. Now, in reference to this canal, its southern ter of the territory which was claimed to be (claimed to be is all I say) under this protectorate. This claim was of course denied by Nicaragua. She had temporarily possessed herself of the port after a long dispute with the British; but in January, 1848, the Nicaraguans were promptly expelled by an English force, and the first thing that was done by the British authority-and I must say, in my opinion, in very bad taste-was to change the ancient euphonious name of San Juan del Norte or San Juan de Nicaragua (I do not care which) into the modern, and to my ear very insipid, appellation of Greytown. I hope the first thing that will be done by the independent authorities of San Juan, if they are independent, will be to change it back again. Let us have again that fine, old, and well-sounding Spanish name. Now, as I said, the convention negotiated by my friend from Delaware, with the approbation of the President, on the 19th of April, 1850, re 32D CONG.....3D SESS. moved a considerable part of the obstacles which grew out of the claim to the protectorate; but there were other difficulties remaining. Costa Rica and Nicaragua were still at variance. Nicaragua refused, in any way, to recognize the independent existence of the Mosquito Indians. She refused to renounce her territorial rights to San Juan. In the mean time the preliminary surveys had been instituted, and it was found that the canal would not pass all the way on the left bank of the river. It was found that probably in some places it would go into the bed of the river and in other places it would go on the right bank of the river; and Costa Rica claimed that her rightful boundary came up to the right bank of the river. Then how could we get along with a charter that was given upon the principle of the exclusive sovereignty of Nicaragua? It was impossible that foreign capitalists, who do not enter into these matters with the critical skill of diplomatists, would risk their capital in a country like Central America, where domestic feuds and border wars are the order of the day, to build an enormously expensive canal which would cost perhaps $100,000,000, over disputed territory, where the soil was liable to be wrested from them at any moment by a contesting Power. It was necessary that something further should be done to adjust all these controverted questions. Who should do it? The mediation of the United States and Great Britain had over and over again been invoked by both States. In the treaty of the 19th of April, 1850, to which I have so often to allude, there was an express stipulation, that if any differences existed between the States or the Government in reference to the canal, or any question of right of property connected with it, the high contracting parties would exert their good offices to reconcile those differences, so that while it was absolutely necessary that the work of adjustment should be attempted, it seemed impossible that anybody else than the two friendly Powers could undertake it. Accordingly they felt it their duty to undertake it, and in the month, I think it was, of July, 1851, a conference was held here, in Washington, between the Secretary of State and the British Minister on one side, and the envoys of Costa Rica and Nicaragua on the other; but without any favorable result. About that time Nicaragua had entered into a partial confederacy with Honduras and San Salvador, to strengthen herself against Costa Rica. She had merged her separate political sovereignty in this federation. She had no longer the power, if she had the desire, to treat separately upon this subject. An interval of eight or ten months accordingly followed. At length it was thought by the two Governments that a further delay was out of the question; that it was already amounting to an indefinite postponement of all energetic proceedings towards the construction of the canal; and it was absolutely necessary that something decisive should be done. Accordingly, in the month of April, 1852, the Secretary of State and the British Minister, acting under the instructions of their Governments respectively, came together and held conferences on this subject; and, after mature deliberation, they agreed to the propositions commonly called the propositions of the 30th of April, 1852, which were to be offered to the two Governments. They were only advisory. They could be nothing else. They were recommendations of two friendly Powers, having no interest at variance with that of either party; regarding them both with the most friendly eye; and anxiously seeking the best method by which all these difficulties could be reconciled, and an effectual impulse given to the execution of the great work. They were only propositions. They were not a convention. They were the basis of a convention that was to be submitted to the two Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. After having been arranged with great deliberation here, they were sent by separate commissioners to the capitals of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. They were accepted by Costa Rica; they were rejected by Nicaragua. Now, sir, let us for a moment consider what these propositions were. I shall not take up the time of the Senate by going into a very great detail. It would be hard to be understood without a map of the country, and without more time than it would be convenient Special Session-Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. for the Senate to bestow on the subject; but the main objects were few and simple. The first was this: out of the very large tract of country lying east of Nicaragua covered by the claim of the Mosquito Indians, to retain a moderate reservation for the temporary use of the Mosquito Indians. They were all to be collected here; they were to be withdrawn from every other point which they may have occupied. In the center of the coast of this territory lay the ancient settlement of Bluefields, the foundation of which runs back into the seventeenth century, if I am not mistaken. They were all to be brought together on this reservation, and all the rest of this large territory east and south of it was to be ceded in full sovereignty to Nicaragua. This cession included the much-desired port of San Juan. The great bone of contention, if I may so call it, was to be given up to Nicaragua by these propositions; and in consideration of the large cession of territory, and of getting rid of the disagreeable controversy, it was proposed proposed only, all this was a proposition-that Nicaragua, as a pecuniary indemnity to the Mosquito nation, should pay the net proceeds of an ad valorem duty of ten per cent. upon articles imported into San Juan, for three years. How much that would amount to I cannot under take to say, but I do not suppose it would amount in the whole to more than fifty or sixty thousand dollars. That was the entire pecuniary consideration which was to be paid for the surrender of the sovereignty of San Juan, and for the cession of the rest of the country lying west and southwest of the reservation to which I have alluded. This was not all. The reservation itself was not intended to be perpetual. On the contrary, it was expressly provided, in a separate article, that the terms of the settlement should not preclude Nicaragua from making any private agreement she might please with the Mosquito Indians for what we should call the extinguishment of their title. She was to be at liberty at any time to make a private arrangement with the Mosquito Indians for the final extinguishment of the title, and consequently the absorption of the reservation into the Nicaraguan State-the Indians to be incorporated with the citizens of that State, of course; which would be no hardship, because by far the largest part of the population of Nicaragua is composed of the native race and their descendants. SENATE. So it was on the coast of the Pacific. There we claimed up to 540 40'. The British said, on the other hand, that the line ought to follow the Columbia river down to the Pacific. The two countries were brought almost to the point of collision on this question, but at last it was thought on all sides that the only practicable and honorable mode of settling the question was to adopt a middle term, and take the line of the forty-ninth degree of latitude which was the boundary east of the Rocky Mountains as the line of demarkation to the sea. If great Powers like England and the United States, the leading Powers of the commercial and maritime world, find it necessary to settle their border controversies by these mutual sacrifices, can Nicaragua, can Costa Rica expect to adjust theirs on any better principle? However, as I said, the terms of the settlement proposed were accepted by Costa Rica, but Nicaragua did not think it expedient for her to adopt them. While these matters were passing, a very singular event occurred in San Juan, of which I believe I can best give an account to the Senate by reading an extract from a dispatch of our consular agent, Mr. Boone, who arrived at San Juan on the 3d of June last. He writes the following, under date of the 5th of June, 1852: "I find the government of the place in the hands of a corporation, or organization, formed principally of American citizens. It consists of a mayor and a city council. They have a constitution which recognizes the trial by jury, and is altogether formed, as far as it goes, upon liberal principles They have a well organized police, judges and aldermen, all elected annually by the people. There is likewise a captain of the port and a health officer. All articles of commerce are admitted free of duty." * "In March last, Mr. Green, the British consul and agent of the Mosquito king, president of the then council at Greytown, upon the request being made by some of the principal inhabitants, issued a proclamation or order for a convention of the people of the town to meet and frame a new constitution. The convention was held and the present constitution was adopted, under which all the before-mentioned officers have been elected." Now, this Government is carried on under the name of the Mosquito king; and Mr. Boone represents that there is a decided preponderance of the British influence in the Government. The officers, by the way, I am informed, are all American; but I doubt not that Mr. Boone correctly states the fact that they are decidedly under British influence. I suppose this is pretty natural, considering the previous history of affairs there; because this small municipality naturally relies upon the name of the Mosquito protectorate as a security for the present against the invasion of the State of Nicaragua, until they shall be sufficiently strong to protect themselves. With respect to the manner in which affairs are managed by this new municipal government I would speak with some reserve. I do not like at this distance to give a decided opinion founded upon ex parte information; but I must say that this new government, though founded on a principle with which, in the United States, we must have all our sympathies enlisted-that of popular election-would seem to be carrying on their affairs very badly. They have lately, by an act of violence for which no doubt some provocation was given, gone across the river and pulled down the buildings of the transit company; and I have also received information of some transactions towards certain French settlers established there, which, if they are truly represented, will involve the municipal authorities of this new corporation in a heavy responsibility to the French empire. As I said before, these may be unfounded reports, and it would be wrong to form a decided opinion upon ex parte information. I hope, as the new constitution is organized upon popular principle, that it will by a wise administration do credit to such an origin. Such was the state of things in that quarter when I went into the Department of State, last November. It was out of my power for some time, for causes beyond my control, to give any impulse to the negotiations in reference to Central America. In the month of January, we received the information that a change of ministry had taken place in England, and that a new Government had been These were the propositions as far as concerns the Mosquito protectorate and San Juan, and all that part of the controversy. Nicaragua being so highly favored on that side, it was thought no more than reasonable that Costa Rica, the other party, should be somewhat favored on her side, not however by giving her all that was asked, because she claimed to go up the San Juan river through its whole extent from the lake to the ocean. That was not admitted in the propositions. She also claimed that she had an equal right with Nicaragua in the port of San Juan. That could not be admitted, because the exclusive sovereignty was proposed to be given to Nicaragua; but it was proposed that Costa Rica should go to the Colorado, a branch that strikes off from the San Juan to the right, and, giving the large delta between the Colorado and the San Juan to Nicaragua, that Costa Rica should follow up the right bank of the Colorado, then the right bank of the San Juan to the lake, and then that the southern shore of the lake should be the boundary, with the privilege of navigating the lake; and then the river La Flor to the Pacific. I admit that this was a favorable boundary to Costa Rica, though it did not, as I have said, give her all that she thought she was entitled to; and Nicaragua had been greatly favored on the other side. How, in a boundary contest between two Powers of about equal strength, can you ever come to a settlement on any other basis than that of compromise and mutual concession? The United States and England have done it over and over again. We claimed our boundary on the northeast as running up far beyond the river St. John-for we have our San Juan too-we claimed that we went far beyond that river on the north-formed under the Earl of Aberdeen, as prime mineastern boundary of Maine. England said that the boundary line began at Mars' Hill, far south of the St. John. The controversy lasted fifty years; and finally we were obliged to settle it by each party giving up something of its extreme pretension. ister. In a fortnight or three weeks I received from the British minister here a communication which showed that one of the first objects to which the new ministry had directed its attention, with the view of bringing about some practical terms of 32D CONG.....3D SESS. Special Session-Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. thought it held out the prospect that something final adjustment, were these difficulties in Central It may be comparing small things with great, but I must say that it was with a somewhat similar feeling of satisfaction that I found that one of the first acts of Lord Aberdeen's new Government was to make an overture to us for the settlement of this, not so formidable, but still by no means inconsiderable difficulty down in Central America. The purport of the communication was, that the Government of her Britannic Majesty was disposed to agree to almost anything reasonable. It was willing to recognize, it had recognized, the independent government that was set up at San Juan. With respect to the protectorate, it desired nothing more than to be wholly disembarrassed from it, so far as it could without an entire sacrifice of the duties of charity and paternal regard which it owed to the broken-down fragments of the Indian tribes which for two hundred years had been, to a certain extent, under its protection. It wished only to get out of it with honor and credit. That was the purport of the communication. It was willing to go there with the United States, and treat with the municipal authorities of San Juan, and was willing that they should continue to govern the territory, American citizens though they were. It was willing that they should continue in power under the cover of the Mosquito king, or they might assume the absolute sovereignty, and extend just such protection to the Indians as their condition and wants should require. Now, sir, how far this project will succeed de- tral America, than who is sent to London, to They invited us to go there with them, to join them in treating with the municipal authorities, and if the arrangement could be completed, then to join, not in guaranteeing the independence of this little new republic-for that it was thought would not be deemed by us an advisable step-tainty, but to act in concert with them in extending such friendly countenance to the poor remnants of the Indians as might be requisite to secure them from internal violence, and prevent them from perishing from the face of the earth. the moral and political certainty that the construction of the canal through their country is indefinitely postponed. Whether that would be for the interest of Nicaragua it is for her to judge. I have taken up more of the time of the Senate than I had intended, and have now said all that I I must confess that I thought this a very have to say on the main subject. Before I take reasonable and satisfactory communication. I my seat, however, I will add a few words in ref SENATE. erence to topics on which I may be expected to say something; I mean the Belize, the Bay Islands, and the recent operations in Honduras, and the opinion entertained by distinguished Senators, that those settlements and operations furnish just ground for accusing England of a breach of the stipulations of the treaty of the 19th of April, 1850. In reference to this, I will candidly say that I do not think England has either violated or intended to violate the faith of that treaty. Why should she? What had she to gain by entering into a treaty stipulation, with no other intention than to break it? She was not obliged to make the treaty. She had no motive in making it, except the motive of faithfully executing its provisions. She owed us nothing in reference to Central America or the canal. We had no claim upon her which required her to enter into the compact with us. What possible inducement of interest or ambition, or any other corrupt motive that could influence a State, can it be supposed England could have had to enter into the treaty for the sole purpose of breaking it? ___Why, sir, there was difficulty enough before. The pretension to the Mosquito protectorate was itself troublesome enough. Why should England voluntarily and gratuitously add to that difficulty'a new difficulty that would immediately present itself, by breaking her solemnly-plighted faith with the United States? I cannot think that she would be so senseless as to do it. Then in reference to the affairs of Central America proper, by which I mean what is commonly so considered, leaving out of the account Belize and Honduras, I cannot see but what England has done all she contracted to do. There may have been some difference in the interpretation which the two parties placed upon the stipulation, but she has been continually receding. She has given up this, and she has given up that. She is desirous not only to disembarrass herself of the protectorate, but she has resigned the sovereignty of San Juan, and has proposed the cession of the whole Mosquito country east of Nicaragua. If a suspicion of bad faith, which I do not admit, could rest upon either party; if there were a disposition to cavil upon the occasion, it might be said rather that the United States, in view of the recent transactions at San Juan, had broken their faith, for there we see an independent government establishing itself by a popular movement, and creating a municipality composed of American citizens. We all know that the Government of the United States has had nothing to do in bringing it about. The utmost that we have done and I do not know that we have done that-is to furnish some degree of countenance and recognition towards the new municipal government. But yet the fact is that there is an independent government at San Juan under the name of the Mosquito king, it is true, but composed of American citizens elected by the people. I mention this only to show, that if one were disposed to take exception, there would be reasonable ground for taking it against the United States. With respect to the settlements at Belize, after all that has been said in the course of the winter on this subject, especially after the speeches of the Senator from Maryland [Mr. PEARCE] and the Senator from New York, [Mr. SEWARD;] after the view taken of the subject by the Committee on Foreign Relations in their able report, and the explanations that have taken place in the course of the recent discussion, I do not think it would be worth while for me to take up the time of the Senate by dwelling upon the question. I believe it is now admitted upon all sides of the Senate Chamber, let the decision of the geographical question be what it may, let the Belize be in Central America or in Mexico, let the origin and foundation of these settlements be what they will,-that they were not in the contemplation of the parties to the treaty at the time it was negotiated, or of the Senate at the time it was approved. Attention was not at all turned to these settlements. The parties had something else in view. They were thinking of the canal and the means of carrying forward that great work of interoceanic communication. The same remark may be made in reference to the Bay Islands. They have been for a century and more a part of the dependencies of Belize, 32D CONG.....3D SESS. and it was not the understanding of the contracting parties that they should be affected one way or the other by the stipulations of the treaty of 19th of April, 1850. I understand the facts in reference to the recent establishment of the colony to be these: These islands were among those which were seized, given up, and seized again, while the state of things lasted which I described in a former part of my remarks, and finally the English of late years have considered that the title "de facto and de jure," (1 quote the words of a dispatch of Lord Palmerston,) was in them. As to the validity of the claim, 1 have not a word to say. I am only stating the pretensions of England; and I suppose it is admitted that at the time the treaty was negotiated, those dependencies were not, any more than Belize itself, understood by the negotiators to be included in the stipulations of the treaty. Two or three years ago, as I understand, the inhabitants of the islands, not being very numerous, sent a messenger to the superintendent of the Belize, and informed him that they were without any regular government, and that they wished one to be estab lished. He told them, very reasonably, that her Britannic Majesty could not afford to govern them for nothing; and that they must see how much they could raise by voluntary taxation to defray the expenses of the Government. They held a meeting and agreed that they would tax themselves £200 a year. They sent word of the result to the superintendent of the Belize, who told them that for that he thought he could get them a regular government. In consequence of that, the order of last July was issued establishing the colony of the Bay Islands. Such is the account I have received of the origin of this colonial organization, not however, I ought to add, from any official source. If these facts are as I have stated, I think it may be said that there is no violation of the stipu lation of the treaty in organizing that colony. At the same time, I must candidly say, that I think it is an ill-advised step. I have no doubt it has been hastily taken on the suggestion of the colonial authorities, and that it has been passed inadvertently through the Foreign Office at London, without a sufficient consideration of the circumstances of the case. I think that the organization, the avowed organization into a colony of islands belonging geograpically-whatever may be the case politically-to Central America, and within sight of the Honduras coast, is, considering the just susceptibility of the American mind on this subject, which is not greater than would exist in England on a similar subject and in a parallel state of affairs, a very ill-advised and indiscreet step. I have no doubt the consent of the Home Government has been surprised into it, by the officious zeal of the colonial authorities, and I entertain a strong expectation that when, through the dispassionate representation of this Government it shall be brought to the consideration of the British minister, it will be retraced. I hope it will. I think it will be as it was in the case of the Sandwich Islands in 1843. You know that at that time the United States first agreed to recognize the independence of those islands. A communication was made by me to that effect to the British Minister for Foreign Affairs in London. He agreed that his Government would recognize their independence, and use its best influence to induce France to do the same. The next news that came was that Lord George Paulet, who commanded the British squadron in the Pacific, had seized the islands, had struck the Hawaiian flag, and hoisted the flag of England. The first thing done by the British Government was to disavow the rash and unau Sir, in our views of the glorious future that awaits the Union, we are apt to regard geographical extension as the measure and the index of our country's progress. I do not deny the general correctness of that impression. It is necessary for the the West Indies, an officer of great moderation, The Senate will infer, from what I have now It is not because either in this case or in that I cordially sympathize with the distinguished thorized act. It was the same thing with the seizure of Tigre Island by Mr. Chatfield, in 1848; and although the case is different, these islands having for a long time been in the unqualified, though contested, possession of Great Britian, I do think, under all the circumstances of the case, that on a calm and dispassionate representation from this Government, this hasty step will be retraced. more than in England. that it should be formed and exhibited upon a grand and extensive scale. It cannot be developed within the bounds of a petty State. Nor do I admit that this idea of geographical extension necessarily carries with it-though it does perhaps by natural association-that of collision with other Powers. But, sir, I think there is no fear, so far as geographical extension is necessary, that we shall in the natural progress of things, have as much of it, and as rapidly as the best interests of the country admit or require. In the mean time, if we wish a real, solid, substantial growth-a growth which will not bring us in collision with foreign Powers-we shall have it in twenty-five years to our heart's content; not by the geographical accession of dead acres; not by the purchase of Cuba, or by the partition of Mexico, but by the simple peaceful increase of our population. Sir, have you well considered that that mysterious law which was promulgated on the sixth day of the Creation-"Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth"-will, in twenty-five years of peace and union-for it is all wrapped up in thataided by the foreign immigration, give us another America of living men as large as that which we now possess? Yes, sir, as far as living men are concerned, besides replacing the millions which will have passed off the stage, it will give us all that the arm of Omnipotence could give us, if it should call up from the depths of the Pacific, and join to the Union another America as populous as ours. If by any stroke of power or policy you could to-morrow extend your jurisdiction from Hudson's Bay to Cape Horn, and ake in every State and every Government, and all their population, it would not give to you a greater amount of population, including your own, than you will have at the end of twenty-five years by the simple law of increase, aided by immigration from abroad. I shall not live to see it. My children probably' will. The Senator from Illinois, in all human probability, will live to see it, and there is, perhaps, no one more likely than he to impress his views of public policy upon the mind of those growing millions, and to receive from them in return all the honors and trusts which a grateful people can. bestow upon those they respect and love. Let me adjure him, then, to follow the generous impulses of his nature, and after giving, like a true patriot, his first affections to his own country, to be willing to comprehend all the other friendly countries of the earth within the scope of a liberal consideration, and above all to cultivate the spirit and arts of peace-of peace. Sir, it is the opposite spirit of military aggrandizement, the spirit of conquest, that has forged those chains in Europe which the Senator so eloquently deplores. It was this that brought down Asia to the dust in the morning of the world, and has kept her seated in sackcloth and ashes ever since. This blasted Greece; this destroyed Rome. It was not a foreign enemy that laid the ax to the root of Rome's freedom; it was her own proconsuls coming home from the successful wars of Asia, gorged with the gold of conquered provinces. The spirit of military aggrandizement and conquest have done the same for Europe. Will they not do it here if we indulge them? Do not let the Senator think that I suspect he wishes to indulge them; but will they not do it? Will they not give us vast standing armies, overshadowing navies, colossal military establishments, frightful expenditures, contracts, jobs, corruption which it sickens the heart to contemplate? And how can our simple republican institutions, our elective magistracies, our annual or biennial choice of those who are to rule over us, unsupported by hereditary claims or pretorian guards, be carried on under such influences? Do not mistake me, however, sir. I counsel no pusillanimous doctrine of non-resistance. Heaven forbid Providence has placed us between the two great world oceans, and we shall always be a maritime Power of the first order. Our commerce already visits every sea, and wherever it floats it |