the political situtation of Yucatan, which will probably end in a formal declaration of its absolute independence, as may be agreed by a Convention summoned according to the plan of the 8th of December last, but for the meeting of which the time has not yet arrived.

Don Jose Robira executed the honourable mission confided to him to the entire satisfaction of my Government. He spoke freely and at length with your Excellency; he declared, in the name of the Government of Yucatan, the firm resolution of that people not to follow the lot of Mexico, but to remain neutral in the present contest, offering to proceed in this matter, in the most frank and honourable manner, and to oppose any faction which, either under the influence of the senselesss views of Santa Anna, or guided by their own base and personal passions, should attempt to disturb the order of things established in the country, or to endanger its pacific relations with The United States. The Government of Yucatan has thus acted, not from any mean or dishonourable motives, but in order to secure the interests of the country; not from servile fear, of which no one has a right to accuse a people who have given such heroic and repeated proofs of civic and military valour, but because it is their first duty to see to their own preservation, provided it be not by base or dishonourable means; and certainly it is not base or dishonourable to resist a participation in the fatal results of a war on the side of those from whom Yucatan has received nothing but repeated acts of injustice. Upon what grounds could my country be reproached for such conduct?

Nevertheless, Mr. Secretary, the port of Laguna de Terminos, belonging to the State of Yucatan, and all its dependencies, have been occupied, in a military manner, by the naval forces of The United States, since the acknowledgment and acceptance of the neutrality of Yucatan; and, what is more injurious to our small and insignificant vessels, and the fruits of our soil and industry, a duty has been laid on them so exorbitant and ruinous as to be, in many cases, greater than the value of the goods themselves introduced. This is one of the points which the Government of Yucatan has charged me to submit to the justice and the correct principles of the Government of The United States, and to this object the present note is directed, which I earnestly pray the Honourable Mr. Buchanan to consider, and to give me notice, in the manner which he may judge most convenient, of the resolution taken by the national Government on a subject of the most vital importance to Yucatan.

The city of Carmen (Laguna), from its insular position, is separated from the main land of Yucatan; and the people of Yucatan have great interests there invested in commercial houses and indus

trial enterprise. Its relations extend to all the neighbouring towns and farms in the territory of Yucatan, and even to those situated in the province of Peten and the Republic of Guatemala. Consider, Sir, how ruinous and destructive must be a tariff of duties, so extremely onerous on effects and merchandize, introduced from absolute necessity into Carmen; for on this introduction depends, literally speaking, the preservation of the enterprise of the citizens. of Yucatan at that place. In the dependencies of the Laguna de Terminos nothing is produced but Campeachy wood, and everything for the subsistance of the people must be introduced from the continent. The condition of Laguna, and of the interests at that place, is rendered infinitely worse than that of the ports of Mexico occupied by the forces of The United States.

I have just been in Vera Cruz and Tampico, and I know from information there received, from sure and certain sources, that all the productions and goods coming from the interior of Mexico, from places subject to Mexico, and consequently inimical to The United States, pay them the lowest duties; while at Laguna, from the mere physical and natural necessity of crossing a small arm of the sea, the fruits of our soil and industry, and our little vessels, are charged with duties so heavy and ruinous. Why is this difference, Mr. Secretary? Why is Yucatan, whose neutrality is acknowledged, treated in a manner by no means equal to that in which places occupied by the enemy are regarded, when it has, on the contrary, so much right to the consideration of The United States ? Even though the military occupation of Laguna were explained, by no means can a tariff of duties be defended, the produce of which forms but an atom in the immensity of the vast and powerful resources of The United States, but which, to my country, causes incalculable loss and injury, not the least being that of its appending pretexts to one or another faction for embarrassing the Government of Yucatan in the course which it proposes to pursue, and will pursue in the present war. All this has been stated verbally and in writing to Commodore Perry, whom I had the honour, by order of my Government, to visit, on board the sloop-of-war Germantown, off Vera Cruz, in the latter part of September. The Commodore will, no doubt, have taken into consideration the powerful reasons alleged by the Government of Yucatan, and I hope that they will be received favourably by the Government of The United States.

Other inconveniences, no less serious and important, arise from this state of things. In Laguna there is no court of justice, nor district nor circuit judge, nor anything, in fine, equivalent to an institution so necessary to guarantee the rights of individuals. The decisions on confiscations flow from the authority of the mili

tary Governor, without any resource or appeal to any court whatsoever. I do not mean by this to say that the gentleman who now performs the functions of Governor of Laguna fails in the observance of the most rigid principles of equity, or does not punctually follow the regulations in force on such matters; but, in addition to the inconvenience of this state of things, the Governor may err in the application of the regulations; in which case the aggrieved party has no resource. This has just happened; and the victim is an unfortunate and honourable trader of Yucatan (Jose Jesus Cotaya), who has been suddenly reduced to misery, after many years of labour, by an omission almost involuntary on his part, in making a declaration of the goods which he was bringing from Campeachy to Laguna in a canoe or small vessel under his care. On this point I shall address your Excellency separately in another note, accompanied by the proof of the claim of Cotaya.

The Government of Yucatan knows that the motive alleged for the military occupation of Laguna is to prevent the contraband trade, which might be carried on through the interior routes, with the adjoining State of Tobasco. This contraband trade is not impossible, as your Excellency well knows that self-interest and desire of gain are so powerful with many individuals, that they are in many cases not to be withheld by the distant consideration that their conduct might injure their country. This is not the fault of any Government, so long as it employs all the means to prevent it. This might be effected without giving to the Government and people of Yucatan reason to regard the occupation of the island. of Carmen as a moral attack on their honour and dignity, and a physical attack on their material interests; whilst they, on the contrary, regard that occupation as entirely useless and ineffectual for the object proposed by The United States in the present war with Mexico. The Government of Yucatan, therefore, authorizes me to solicit from the justice of the Government of The United States the cessation of the occupation of the island, promising on its part to display the utmost zeal, activity, and efficiency in the repression of the contraband trade, leaving the vessels of the American squadron, which the Government of The United States may think proper to maintain at that port and its dependencies, free to co-operate in such suppression. Our Government desires the cessation of the occupation of the island, not only because it considers this to be in all respects just, but because it disapproves, in fine, of this ominous tariff of duties, which weighs upon our little vessels and upon the produce of the soil of Yucatan whose citizens suffer in their own homes from a ruinous tax, laid upon them by a friendly nation, from whose justice they confidently hope for reparation of those

evils.

I have the honour to solicit this from your Excellency, and at the same time to offer, &c.

The Hon. J. Buchanan.

JUSTO SIERRA.

(5.)-The Secretary of State of The United States to the Commissioner of Yucatan.

SIR,

Washington, December 14, 1847. IMPORTANT and pressing duties connected with the meeting of Congress, have thus long delayed my answer to your note of the 27th ultimo. I have now, however, received the instructions of the President on the points which it presents, and hasten to communicate to you his decision.

After an interesting historical sketch of Yucatan since the termination of the Spanish dominion over it, you present two requests to the Government of The United States.

1. That the duties now imposed at Laguna, under the authority of The United States, on the vessels and productions of Yucatan, may be abolished.

2. That the naval forces of The United States may cease to occupy the port of Laguna and island of Carmen.

I shall first advert to your second request.

The President feels the strongest disposition to grant to the Government and people of Yucatan every indulgence not inconsistent with the official exercise of our belligerent rights against Mexico. With every desire, however, to cultivate the most friendly feelings with her, he yet believes that the duty which he owes to his own country, forbids him, for the present, to relinquish the possession of Laguna. The position of Yucatan is peculiar. The President cannot recognize her as a sovereign and independent State. She must still be considered as a portion of the Mexican Republic, but yet as neutral in the existing war. Had she preserved her neutrality from the commencement of hostilities until the present period, it is more than probable the naval forces of The United States never would have taken possession of Laguna. It is true that a contraband trade in arms and munitions of war was carried on between that port and the neighbouring province of Tobasco; but yet we might have borne this injury rather than have exercised the unquestionable right of arresting it by seizing any portion of a State which professed neutrality. But the Extraordinary Congress of Yucatan, by their Decree of the 25th August, 1846, converted her neutrality into open war against The United States. After she had thus made herself our enemy, the port of Laguna, on the 21st December, 1846, was unconditionally surrendered to our naval forces. It is true that Yucatan has again become neutral, but it cannot be denied that she has ever since

been distracted by civil dissensions, and that the enemies of neutrality and partisans of Mexico are in open rebellion against her Government. Under these circumstances, the Presidant cannot consent to surrender Laguna. That port, from its peculiar position, presents extraordinary facilities for carrying on an illicit trade in arms and munitions of war with Tobasco. From information, on which the President fully relies, it would be impossible for the authorities of Yucatan, with the best possible intentions, to prevent this illicit traffic. To surrender Laguna would, therefore, be to furnish the means to Mexico of seriously annoying the forces of The United States, and prolonging the existing war.

To your first request, that of not exacting duties at Laguna on the vessels and productions of other ports of Yucatan, the Presi dent is inclined to give a favourable response. Whilst he deems it necessary to hold this port for the purpose of preventing Mexico from receiving military supplies from it to be used to our injury, no sufficient cause, perhaps, exists for the continuance of these imposts. Commodore Perry will, therefore, be instructed by the Secretary of the Navy to abolish them, unless he may have reasons to the contrary not now within the President's knowledge. It is, however, to be distinctly understood that this instruction will be confined to the productions of Yucatan carried to Laguna in her own vessels, and is not to interfere with the inspection of such vessels and the execution of the revenue regulations by officers of The United States, nor to sanction any trade whatever between Laguna and any of the ports of Mexico.

The privilege thus accorded will continue so long as Yucatan shall, in good faith, maintain her neutrality, but shall immediately cease the moment this is violated.

The claim of Mr. Cotaya, to which you allude, shall be referred to the Secretary of the Navy, after you have presented it in form, accompanied by the proofs in its support.

Señor Don Justo Sierra.

I avail, &c.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

(6.)-The Commissioner of Yucatan to the Secretary of State of The United States.

SIR,

(Translation.)

Washington, December 27, 1847. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the note addressed to me by you on the 24th instant, informing me of the President's resolution on the points which I submitted, in the name of my Government, to the determination of the Government of The United States. I hope, most confidently, that Yucatan will yet receive that justice to which she is entitled, aud will be relieved from the burtheu imposed upon her, by the occupation of one of her