COSTA RICA. ARBITRATION OF THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE BETWEEN Mr. Calvo to Mr. Olney. [Translation.] LEGATION OF COSTA RICA, SIR: I had the honor to inform you, in the interview with which you were pleased to favor me yesterday, of a convention for the tracing and demarcation of the dividing line between the Republics of Costa Rica and Nicaragua having been signed the 27th of March last, in the capital of Salvador, with the honorable and fraternal mediation of the President of that State, conformably to the determination of the treaty of April 15, 1858, and the award of the President of the United States of America, Mr. Grover Cleveland; and of putting you in possession of the fact that, according to one of the stipulations of that convention, the two contracting Governments will proceed, by common consent, in regular course to request of the President of the United States of America that he consent to name an engineer who, representing the respective commissions of both countries and with the ample powers which will be conferred upon him by that convention, may decide any kind of difficulties which may arise in the indicated operation of fixing the boundary line. It has been a source of the most pleasing satisfaction for me to note the good disposition shown by you in this matter, which could not have been settled in any other way, in treating by a final and amicable rule an important and vexatious question, finally decided in Washington, so far as the principle was concerned, for the good of the two nations interested; and, in conformity with your wish, I have the pleasure to send, inclosed, copy and translation of the convention in question, for your better information. Be pleased, etc., J. B. CALVO. [Inclosure.-Translation.] Convention for the demarkation of the boundary line between the Republics of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, signed in the city of San Salvador on the twenty-seventh day of the month of March, of eighteen hundred and ninety-six. The mediation of the Government of Salvador having been accepted by the Most Excellent the Presidents of Costa Rica and Nicaragua to settle the demarkation of the boundary line between the two Republics, they have named, respectively, as envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, their excellencies Señors Don Leonidas Pacheco and Don Manuel C. Matus, who, after several interviews held in the presence of the minister of foreign relations, Señor Don Jacinto Castellanos, especially authorized to represent the Government of Salvador, their full powers being See also under the Greater Republic of Central America. found to be in good and due form, with the attendance of the Most Excellent the President of the Republic, General Don Rafael A. Gutierrez, who has condescended to be present to lend greater solemnity to the act, have concluded the convention following: ARTICLE I. The contracting Governments bind themselves to each name a commission composed of two engineers or surveyors for the purpose of properly tracing and marking the boundary line between the Republics of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, pursuant to the provisions of the treaty of April 15, 1858, and the arbitration award of the President of the United States of America, Mr. Grover Cleveland. ARTICLE II. The commissions created by the foregoing article shall be completed by an engineer whose appointment shall be requested by both parties of the President of the United States of America, and whose duties shall be limited to the following: Whenever in the carrying out of the operations the commissions of Costa Rica and Nicaragua shall disagree, the disputed point or points shall be submitted to the judgment of the engineer named by the President of the United States of America. The engineer shall have ample authority to decide any kind of dispute that may arise, and his decision shall be final as to the operations in question. ARTICLE III. Within three months after the exchange of the present convention when once duly ratified by the respective Congresses, the representatives in Washington of both contracting Governments shall proceed, jointly, to request the President of the United States of America to agree to the appointment of the engineer heretofore referred to and to select the same. If, owing to the absence of a representative in Washington of either of the two Governments, or for any other reason whatsoever, the request shall not be made jointly within the time specified, after the expiration thereof the representative in Washington of either Costa Rica or Nicaragua may make the said request separately, which request shall have the same effect as though made by both parties. ARTICLE IV. The appointment of the United States engineer once made, and within three months after such appointment, the demarkation of the boundary line shall be entered upon, and shall be concluded within twenty months after the inauguration of the work. The commissions of the contracting parties shall meet in San Juan del Norte within the term designated for the purpose, and shall begin their work at the end of the boundary line, which, according to the treaty and award above mentioned, starts from the Atlantic Coast. ARTICLE V. The contracting parties stipulate that if from any cause either the commission of the Republic of Costa Rica or that of Nicaragua should fail to appear at the place designated, on the day named for the beginning of the work, this shall be begun by the commission that may be on hand, the engineer of the United States Government being present, and whatever may be so done shall be valid and final in so far as regards the Republic failing to send its commissioners. The same course shall be pursued should any or all of the commissioners of either of the contracting Republics absent themselves after the beginning of the work, or should they refuse to carry out the same in the manner laid down in the award and treaty herein referred to, or in accordance with the decision of the engineer appointed by the President of the United States. ARTICLE VI. The contracting parties stipulate that the time established for the conclusion of the demarkation is not absolute, and, therefore, whatever may be done subsequent to the expiration thereof shall be valid, either because the said term is insufficient for the carrying out of all the operations, or by reason of the commissioners of Costa Rica and Nicaragua agreeing among themselves, with the consent of the United States engineer, to temporarily suspend the work, the remaining time of that primarily designated being insufficient for finishing the same. ARTICLE VII. In case of the temporary suspension of the work of demarkation whatever may be done up to the time of suspension shall be held as final and conclusive, and the boundaries in the respective parts shall be deemed as materially established, even though owing to unexpected and insuperable circumstances such suspension should continue indefinitely. ARTICLE VIII. The minutes of the work, which shall be kept in triplicate and which the commissioners shall duly sign and seal, shall constitute, without the necessity of approval or any other formality on the parts of the signatory Republics, the proof of the final demarkation of their boundaries. ARTICLE IX. The minutes to which the preceding article refers shall be spread in the form following: Every day, upon finishing the work, there shall be minutely and detailedly set forth everything done, giving the starting point of the operations of the day, the kind of monument constructed or adopted, the distance between each, the direction of the line determining the true boundary, etc. In case any question should arise between the commissioners of Costa Rica and Nicaragua regarding any point the point or points in dispute and the decision of the United States engineer shall be recorded in the respective minutes. The minutes shall be kept in triplicate, the commission of Costa Rica retaining one copy, that of Nicaragua another, and the third being retained by the United States engineer, to be deposited after the conclusion of the work in the Department of State at Washington. ARTICLE X. The expense occasioned by the sending and stay of the United States engineer, as well as his salary during all the time he may perform his duties, shall be paid in equal moities by the two signatory Republics. ARTICLE XI. The contracting parties bind themselves to secure the ratification of this convention from their respective Congresses within six months, reckoned from this date, even though it should be necessary for the purpose to call an extraordinary session of those high bodies, and the subsequent exchange shall be effected within the month following the date of the last of the said ratifications, in San José de Costa Rica and in Managua. ARTICLE XII. The expiration of the terms herein before mentioned without the execution of the acts for which they were designated will not vitiate the present convention, and it will be endeavored by the Republic at fault to remedy the same within the briefest time possible. In testimony whereof they sign and seal the present convention in duplicate in the city of San Salvador on the twenty-seventh day of the month of March of eighteen hundred and ninety-six. [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] [L. S.] R. A. GUTIERREZ. National Palace, San José, April eighth of eighteen hundred and ninety-six. The President of the Republic resolves to approve the foregoing convention and submit it to the deliberations of the Congress for the purposes of the fourth section of art. 73 of the Constitution of the Republic. RAFAEL IGLESIAS. Secretary of State in the Department of Foreign Relations. No. 12.] Mr. Olney to Mr. Calvo. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 1st instant, with which you inclose copy of the convention between Costa Rica and Nicaragua for the demarcation of the boundary between the two countries, one of the articles of which provides for the appointment by the President of the United States of an engineer to decide any point of disagreement between their respective commissioners. The President will be happy to appoint an engineer in accordance with the above-referred-to provision upon the receipt of the joint request of the two Governments. Accept, etc., RICHARD OLNEY. No. 70.] ECUADOR. ARBITRATION OF THE CLAIM OF JULIO R. SANTOS. Mr. Tillman to Mr. Olney. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to state that I have just received from the minister of foreign affairs copy of a dispatch from General Alfaro, the governor of Guayas, submitting terms of a settlement of the Santos claim, suggested by the claimant. The telegram declares that the terms are subject to the ratification of the American minister here and that the payments shall be made to the State Department at Washington. Since an agreement has not yet been reached, I do not for this reason and for want of time transmit herewith the telegram and translation, but I would like the Department to inform me by cable if I should approve any settlement which the claimant may make with the Government of Ecuador. It occurs to me that whatever arrangements may be made by Santos with Ecuador would be satisfactory to the United States, provided the payments were made by Ecuador to the Government of the United States. Without further instructions no settlement of the Santos claim will have my official approval, though, as above stated, I suppose whatever is satisfactory to him will be to the Government. I have, etc., JAMES D. TILLMAN. No. 72.] Mr. Tillman to Mr. Olney. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Quito, April 11, 1896. (Received May 2.) SIR: I have the honor to hand you herewith copy of letter just received from Mr. Santos. It would seem from this letter and from the telegram mentioned in my No. 70 of April 9, that the two legal questions involved under the convention are conceded to be in favor of Santos, and there remains nothing now to be done except to ascertain the amount of damages. I have not seen Mr. Santos, but it seems that the determination of the damages might have been left to Mr. St. John, as he had consented to act in the case. I have, etc., JAMES D. TILLMAN. [Inclosure in No. 72.] Mr. Santos to Mr. Tillman. GUAYAQUIL, April 6, 1896. DEAR SIR: Since my arrival here on the 26th of March, Mr. Dillard has handed me your letter in answer to my telegram addressed to yon from Bahia. I have been communicating with General Alfaro by telegraph on a basis of agreement to settle my claim. I proposed that an impartial person, to be agreed upon by both parties, should be appointed to fix the amount of indemnity to be paid by the Government of Ecuador. Knowing the exhausted condition of the treasury of this country, I proposed that the amount should be paid in two, three, or four dividends, as best suited Ecuador, paying interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from the date of the award, the payment to be made, as is customary in such cases, into the Treasury of the United States by the representative of Ecuador in the city of Washington, the first installment to be paid on June 30, 1897, thus giving time for the next Congress of Ecuador to appropriate the required amount. General Alfaro has answered accepting the terms in a general way, and proposed to appoint Dr. Rafael Polit, a well-known lawyer now residing in Guayaquil, to fix the amount of the indemnity in view of the proofs presented as to the arbitrary appropriation of property by the officers of the Government of Ecuador and the consequent damages. As special deference to General Alfaro, I propose only to claim $110,000, as stated in my declaration, interest at 6 per cent, and lawyer's fees. As the proofs of the values taken by the officers of Ecuador at the time of my arrest are so convincing and so numerous as to leave no doubt whatever, I accept the appointment of Dr. Rafael Polit to fix the amount after the indemnity is decided upon; then the Government of Ecuador will propose the terms for payment. The agreement, as I understood it, is purely to fix the amount of indemnity in a friendly way-the terms of payment. It is not my intention in any way to deprive it of its diplomatic character, and I will leave that matter entirely in your hands. I think in less than thirty days Dr. Polit will be able to give judgment. Very respectfully, yours, JULIO R. SANTOS. No. 73.] Mr. Tillman to Mr. Olney. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Quito, April 20, 1896. (Received May 13.) SIR: I have the honor to state that on the 14th of this month I received your telegram saying, "Your sixty-seven received. Ask for mal acceptance arbitrator by Ecuador and prompt submission of case as provided convention." On the next morning, April 15, I sent to the minister of foreign affairs a note, copy of which is inclosed (No. 1) in which I asked if he would signify to me in writing that Mr. St. John was acceptable as arbitrator; but receiving no reply I called in person late in the afternoon of the 18th and courteously informed him that I was anxious to have his answer, that I might on that evening send the information to you. He replied that the Government was endeavoring to agree upon a settlement with Mr. Santos, and that while he knew of no objection to Mr. St. John he could see no use of an arbitrator in the event of an agreement as to the amount to be paid to Santos, and that he could not promise me an answer before to-morrow, the 21st. Again, at 93 o'clock this morning, I had an interview with the supreme chief and the minister of foreign relations, when the same reasons were given by them for the delay in the acceptance or nonacceptance of Mr. St. John as arbitrator. I informed them that I could not object to an agreement between them and Santos as to the amount to be paid him, subject to the approval of the United States, but that I had informed Mr. Santos |