year the minister of foreign relations of New Granada, under date of January 7. addressed the Government of Central America by sending it an argumentative protest, in which he declared in the name of the Republic that "if the intent is to carry out the project of an interoceanic waterway through the mouths of the San Juan, the Government of New Granada will oppose it and avail itself of all the means afforded by international law." In 1843 the legation of Colombia at London laid before the English Government a protest denouncing the acts of the war frigates Tweed and Charybdis on the Mosquito Coast as an infringement on the Sovereign rights of New Granada over the said territory. This attitude was maintained by the New Granadian Government throughout the following years, during which the minister of Colombia at London repeatedly asserted before the Government of Great Britain the rights of New Granada on the Mosquito Coast. In 1890 the territorial concession granted by the Republic of Nicaragua for the excavation of an interoceanic canal called forth the note of the ministry of foreign relations of Colombia to that of the said Republic, in which it is declared that Colombia holds perfect titles establishing her sovereign rights over the territory known as the Mosquito Coast" up to Cape Gracias a Dios, and renewed the protest made on the other occasions above mentioned. In May, 1894, the Colombian Government once more renewed its protests respecting the sovereignty and dominion of the Mosquito territory, and proposed to the Government of Nicaragua that a tribunal of arbitration be constituted to pass upon the dispute herein adverted to, but that Government did not see fit to assent to the proposition, and in so doing Colombia did not renounce her indisputable rights in any way. The Government of Colombia, therefore, deems it necessary to put it once more on record, through me, that if any concession in ownership or usufruct be made in the Mosquito territory by a country other than Colombia it is to be understood as being granted on the condition that the rights of third parties, save those that she claims to be perfect, over that region shall not be prejudiced thereby. Í avail myself, etc., Hon. JOHN HAY, No. 6.] JOSÉ VICENTE CONCHA. Secretary of State of the United States. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, April 18, 1902. Señor DoN JOSÉ VICENTE CONCHA, Etc. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 8th instant, making "protest in regard to the projected canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans over what has been styled the Nicaragua route, in so far as the project may affect the sovereign rights of Colombia in the event of its including territory which she holds to be her own." In limiting this answer to the acknowledgment of the receipt of your note, the Government of the United States reserves, and with out prejudice, its entire freedom to make such answer as it may find proper should the occasion arise for it to do so. Accept, etc., JOHN HAY. No. 8.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Señor DON JOSÉ VICENTE CONCHA, Etc. SIR: I beg leave to refer to the proposal made to this Government by the Republic of Colombia, through your excellency, on March 31 and April 18, 1902 (with the accompanying expository letters), agreed to by me on April 21 last under the conditions therein stated, and confirmed by your further favor two days later; also to the law of the Congress of the United States upon this subject, approved June 28, 1902. You are aware, I am quite sure, of the reasons for amendment of the proposed treaty; and without affecting the respective engagements referred to, and which shall continue in full force unless we otherwise agree, I submit and propose various amendments to the proposed treaty, which I have embodied in the complete draft herewith delivered. I am also sure, my dear sir, that you fully appreciate the necessity for very prompt action. Accept, etc., [Translation.] JOHN HAY. LEGATION OF COLOMBIA, Washington, D. C., July 19, 1902. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge to your excellency the receipt of the note dated yesterday, which is accompanied by the modifications that the Government of your excellency proposes to the memorandum from this legation, dated April 18, of the present year. In reply to the said communication, I have the honor to inform your excellency that I hastened to transmit to my Government the aforesaid modifications by telegraph and by means of a special dispatch bearer, to request special instructions regarding them, since they affect substantially the treaty that was proposed by the undersigned. As soon as my Government transmits the instructions requested, I shall have the honor of giving to your excellency the formal reply in the matter. I repeat to your excellency my expressions of high and distinguished consideration. Hon. JOHN HAY, JOSÉ VICENTE CONCHA. Secretary of State of the United States of America, Señor Don José VICENTE CONCHA, etc. Department of State. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, MY DEAR MR. MINISTER: I regret to say that the clerk in copying the canal treaty draft omitted, by clerical error in the typewritten copy of the draft which Mr. Hay handed to you on the 18th instant, the first paragraph in Article XIII, page 16. This omitted paragraph reads as follows: The United States shall have authority to protect and make secure the canal, as well as railways and other auxiliary works and dependencies, and to preserve order and discipline among the laborers and other persons who may congregate in that region, and to make and enforce such police and sanitary regulations as it may deem necessary to preserve order and public health thereon, and to protect navigation and commerce through and over said canal, railways, and other works and dependencies from interruption or damage. I have had pages 16 and 17 of the draft recopied to include this omitted paragraph. This insertion involves no addition or change in the original draft of the treaty, the paragraph having been in the early drafts and omitted from this one only by inadvertence. As you will see, it is necessary to complete the article. I have to request that you substitute the inclosed pages 16 and 17, which contain the omitted paragraph as above explained, for the pages 16 and 17 now attached to your draft. Except for the addition of this paragraph the pages 16 and 17 inclosed herewith for attachment to your draft are identical with the ones for which they are to be substituted. I am, etc., DAVID J. HILL, Acting Secretary. [Translation.] LEGATION OF COLOMBIA, Washington, D. C., September 22, 1902. SIR: I have the honor of addressing your excellency with the object of informing you that there was received last night at this legation a cablegram from the governor of the Department of Panama in which he asks that rectifications of various reports published in this country about recent events in that Department concerning the naval forces of the United States and American corporations holding interests therein be laid before the Department of State over which you preside. These rectifications may be summarized as follows: (a) There has been no interruption whatsoever in the transit over the Panama Railroad. The governor of the department directed that trains be detained for a few minutes on entering the cities of Panama and Colon for a brief inspection and to prevent a repetition of an attack by rebel forces such as that which took place in the city of Colon last year, but there was no interruption in the transit of the railroad, caused by the Colombian authorities, neither for a day nor for an hour. (b) The Government of Colombia has not omitted to guarantee, in an effective manner, the right of way or transit across the Isthmus of Panama, under the obligation placed upon it by section 1 of article 35 of the treaty concluded in 1846 between the Republic of New Granada and the United States of America, nor has anything happened to interfere with the said freedom of transit. There has been no cnflict in Panama between individuals or soldiers of the Colombian forces with marines of the United States, and the former have not failed to obey the directions issued by the governor of the Department on the subject of free transit. To these rectifications the governor adds that the American company of the Panama Railroad refuses to comply with the express obligation, placed upon it by the privilege contract of August 16, 1867 (art. 19), to convey troops of the Government, as such, that is to say, with their arms, by which, besides incurring the civil responsibilities appertaining thereto, the said company throws obstacles in the way of the effective discharge of Colombia's duty to maintain the free transit across the Isthmus, since in case of threatened attack its forces could not repel it without arms. The events that are taking place at Panama have been reported to the ministry of foreign relations at Bogota, but no instructions have as yet reached this legation, and I confine myself to transcribing to your excellency the foregoing remarks without advancing any judgment whatever as to the facts and reserving for my Government the faculty of making at any time on the question such declarations as it may deem necessary or expedient. Accept, excellency, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration. Hon. JOHN HAY, JOSÉ VICENTE CONCHA. Secretary of State of the United States, Department of State. LEGATION OF COLOMBIA, Washington, October 26, 1902. SIR: I have the honor to address your excellency for the purpose of informing you that on the 24th instant I received from my Government supplementary and full instructions to close the negotiations for the construction of the Panama Canal which have been progressing between Colombia and the United States, and that in said document are comprised all the points to which your excellency adverted as modifications of the memorandum presented by the legation to the Department of State on the 21st of April last. The instructions to which I refer bear date of Bogota, September 9, 1902, before the action was taken in the Department of Panama. by United States naval officers which implies, on the part of your excellency's Government, a new interpretation of the treaty in force between the two countries, an interpretation concerning which I am not now at liberty to express any opinion, for the reason that the minister for foreign relations at Bogota has undertaken to discuss it directly himself, as your excellency is aware; but which would essentially affect the convention now pending, since article 35 of that treaty is incorporated and developed therein. In view of the foregoing, your excellency will recognize that it is just now impossible for me to act in pursuance of the instructions. received, in consequence of which I have addressed my Government my cable, stating the circumstances, to the end that it may decide upon what it considers most proper. My object in addressing your excellency on this occasion is mainly to place on record the good will and frankness of intentions of my Government in the pending negotiations, since, surmounting considerable difficulties arising from the disturbance of public order in the country, it has succeeded in sending to its representative instructions to conclude the treaty, which was soon to be submitted to the legislative body, and although an unforeseen delay in the progress of the affair now arises, my Government is in no wise responsible therefor. Accept, your excellency, the assurances of my distinguished consideration. JOHN HAY. No. 9.] JOSÉ VICENTE CONCHA. Secretary of State of the United States. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 28, 1902. Señor DoN JOSÉ VICENTE CONCHA, etc. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of the 26th of October, in which you inform me that on the 24th instant, you received fro myour Government supplementary and full instructions to close the negotiations for the construction of the Panama Canal. You further state that since these instructions were dated, action has been taken in the Department of Panama by United States naval officers, which, in your opinion, implies a new interpretation of the treaty now in force between the two countries. Your excellency does not further particularize the facts referred to, nor the interpretation to which they have given rise, but you inform me that, in view of the foregoing, it is impossible for you now to act in pursuance of the instructions received by you without further consultation with your Government. I do not recognize that there has been any action on the part of officers of the United States Navy in the Department of Panama to which your Government could justly take exception, and I can assure you that no new interpretation has been placed upon the treaty now in force between our respective countries. I admit that it is not proper for me, nor have I any inclination, to make any observations upon your excellency's action in declining to carry out the instructions which you inform me you have received from your Government. I venture, however, to recall to your excellency the law passed at the last session of Congress, which makes it the duty of the President to ascertain whether a satisfactory treaty can be made with Colombia for the construction of a canal across the Isthmus, and, in case this is impossible, authorizes him to proceed to the construction of such a canal by another route. The Congress will meet in the course of a few weeks and it will then be incumbent upon the President to report whether it is probable that he will be able to negotiate a satisfactory treaty with the Republic of Colombia. I need not point out to your excellency how grave a responsibility will be assumed by anyone who, by positive or negative action, may make it necessary for this Government to resort to the alternative mentioned. I beg, sir, that you will accept, etc. JOHN HAY. |