No. 107.] No. 97. Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish. 66 UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, Comayagua, February 19, 1874. (Received April 2.) SIR: I have now the honor to inclose you a copy of the demand for satisfaction for outrages at Omoa in July last, made in accordance with your instructions, (the number of which I am not able to give on account of absence from my office,) and of the reply of the government of Honduras. The conversation referred to in the last paragraph of my letter to the minister was held with President Leiva, in the presence of his cabinet, just after my official reception. In that conversation he and his cabinet expressed the most profound regret for the occurrences complained of, and asked what would be satisfactory to my Government. I replied it was impossible for me to say at that moment, but that, although the outrage was so grave a one it might have become a casus belli," and resulted in consequences more serious to Honduras than the bombardment of the Fortress of Omoa, I was prepared to believe my Government, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, might be satisfied with an apology, a salute of twenty-one guns to the consular flag from the fort when it was again raised at Omoa, and a decree forever prohibiting the officer commanding the forces at the time of the outrage from ever again holding a military or civil office of profit, trust, or honor in the republic of Honduras. I understood all of them to concur in the expression of the view that such a satisfaction as I indicated would be readily conceded. The President asked time to investigate the facts, and informed me that he had men under arrest and in the way to Comayagua, the judge of the first instance and sixteen citizens of Omoa, who were reputed to have been the leaders in the numerous outrages alleged to have been committed. General Straeber, he said, had escaped into Salvador, but he proposed to make a requisition for him and bring him to trial. I beg to be further instructed what to do in regard to this matter. I have, &c., [Inclosure 1 in No. 107.] GEO. WILLIAMSON. Mr. Williamson to Señor Zuniga, UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, SIR: I have the honor to state that on or about the 10th of July last the flag of the United States, then flying over the office of Consul Charles R. Follin, at Omoa, was hauled down by a mob of soldiers and citizens of Honduras, and treated with marks of disrespect; and that at or about the same time the same mob violated the sanctity of the said consular office and property at Omoa, by breaking into the office, destroying and mutilating some of the property, and exposing the correspondence of the said consulate of the United States to public inspection. All these acts were in violation of international law and of the subsisting treaty between my country and Honduras. At the date of these unhappy occurrences Señor Arias was acting as provisional President of Honduras, and General Straeber, who commanded the forces at Omoa, was his appointee; but as it was impossible to open diplomatic relations with the government of Señor Arias, and his excellency President Leiva has succeeded to the executive office of the republic, it becomes my duty to address myself to him for redress. Under instructions from my Government, I therefore have the honor to ask that full and prompt satisfaction be rendered for said outrage upon the flag of the United States and violation of the property of the consulate at Omoa. Referring your excellency to my conversation with his excellency the President to-day, in the presence of yourself and other members of his cabinet, on this subject, I beg to express the hope his government will find no difficulty in acceding with promptness to this just demand of my Government, and that no interruption may occur in the friendly relations which have so long happily subsisted between our countries. With the assurance of my high consideration, I remain, &c. His Excellency SEÑOR LIC'DO DON ADOLFO ZUNIGA, GEO. WILLIAMSON. Minister of Foreign Affairs. [Inclosure 2 in No. 107-Translation.] Señor Zuniga to Mr. Williamson. OFFICE OF MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MOST EXCELLENT SIR: I had the honor to receive your excellency's official dispatch of this date, in which you make known to this government that, about the 10th of July of the year just passed, citizens of Honduras and soldiers belonging to the forces under the command of General Richard Straeber, at Omoa, broke into the office of the United States consul, Don Charles R. Follin, sacking the archives of the consulate, and scattering and destroying some of the papers, and that on account of these acts your excellency expected the government of Honduras to give prompt and complete satisfaction to the Government of the United States. The citizen President, before whom I have laid your excellency's dispatch, instructs me to inform your excellency that the government of Honduras deplores these events; that, led by the public rumor of their having occurred, he has given orders for the reconstruction of the judiciary at Omoa, and for a rigid inquiry to be instituted in regard to the acts that are the foundation of the reclamation of your excellency. If they are found to have been done, then the government of Honduras will have no difficulty in doing justice to the Government of the United States, according to the laws of nations. Perhaps the fact of the overthrow of the government of Señor Arias, under whose orders General Straeber acted, is one of the best satisfactions which the government and people of Honduras may have been able to give to the Government of the United States. I hold it a great honor, Señor Minister, to offer myself as your attentive and obedient servant, ADOLFO ZUNIGA. No. 109.] No. 98. Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, Amapala, Honduras, February 26, 1874. (Received April 18.) SIR: I have now completed my journey from Omoa through the most populous portions of Honduras, and it seems proper that I should have the honor of giving you the result of my observations in regard to the probable permanency of the newly-established government of President Leiva. He seems to be very much beloved and esteemed along my whole line of travel, and is reputed to be equally so in other parts of the country. Foreigners and natives alike spoke in terms of high praise of his intelligence and disinterested patriotism. They expressed no doubt that he was and is the popular choice of Honduras. The condemnations of the usurpations and tyrannies of Arias were unmeasured and universal. Leiva holds his office by the same terms that Arias did, both being provisional Presidents, or, as they would probably be called in our country, revolutionary Presidents. They are both civilians, without any military prestige, and before the usurpations of Arias, he was thought to be as free from am H bition as Leiva now is. He was never a popular man, I am told. It is idle to speculate upon what effect may be produced upon Leiva by the exercise of power, or upon what changes of policy may result from a more practical knowledge of the peculiar characteristics of his people; but I am somewhat hopeful he may be able to adhere to his republican ideas, and afford to Honduras a stable and good government. He has made the impression upon me, at least for the present, that he is a man of firm character and fixed principles, and likely to be subject to the mutations that seem to come over the rulers of these countries when they find themselves well installed in office. My dispatches heretofore have contained so much about this gentleman that I will not trouble you with more, save only to say he treated me with distinguished courtesy during my stay at his capital, and gave me a handsome official banquet on the day of my reception. His cabinet was present. In reply to the toasts to the President and his representative present, I took occasion to repeat as briefly as possible the sentiments expressed by you in your report to the Senate, which I quoted in my address in Salvador, and in a dispatch of Mr. Seward, dated October 28, 1862, written in reply to a request from the government of Guatemala to take the advice of President Lincoln in regard to certain "projected organic changes in the governments of Guatemala and other Central American republics." I hope to arrive at Guatemala by the 2d or 3d of March. The upwardbound steamer is due here to-day. I have, &c., No. 99. GEO. WILLIAMSON. No. 114.] Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, Guatemala, March 16, 1874. (Received April 20.) SIR: Inclosed I have the honor to send you copies of correspondence with the government of Nicaragua. Allow me to invite your special attention to my reply, and also to the dispatch of the late Hon. W. H. Seward, to which it refers. It is dated October 28, 1862, and is addressed to Mr. E. O. Crosby, the minister to Guatemala. I am thus particular in describing this statesmanlike paper, because I have not seen it published among the public documents. The translated copy of Mr. Rivas's dispatch of 20th of December, of which he inclosed me a duplicate-original in his of the 10th of February, was sent you with my No. 89. I have, &c., GEORGE WILLIAMSON. [Inclosure 1 in No. 114.-Translation.] Señor Rivas to Mr. Williamson. OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SIR: As, since your return from Costa Rica, I have not had the pleasure of receiving any of your esteemed favors, I do myself the honor of accompanying this with my duplicate dispatch of the 20th December last. The situation of Nicaragua in respect to Costa Rica is pacific, that government having ceased all its acts of hostility, but the diplomatic relations have not been renewed, although this office has made an overture with that view to the government at San José. The equal silence which prevails on the part of Guatemala and Salvador is readily explained by their occupations with the questions of Honduras, and on account of the presence at the capitals of these republics of the minister plenipotentiary from this government, I place these matters specially before the notice of your excellency, because the interest you have manifested in having a general and permanent peace established in Central America entitles you to these minute details of the relations between the governments. Just now it has become privately known that Dr. Lorenzo Montufar has started, or is about to start, on a mission from Costa Rica to the governments of Guatemala and Salvador. It is generally believed to be a pacific mission, but the coolness existing between this government and that of Costa Rica, and, perhaps, a suspicion of a secret entity on the part of the latter, does not allow us to feel secure that it is altogether with the end of promoting peace and harmony. Being well assured of your excellency's impartiality and correct judgment and noble anxiety for the tranquillity of these states, I lay before you the situation, so that you may be able to examine into these things, in order to give effect to the laudable desire that has always inspired you. I improve the opportunity to renew to your excellency the assurance of the high respect and consideration with which I subscribe myself, Your true and attentive servant, Hon. Señor DON GEORGE WILLIAMSON, Minister of the United States in Central America, Guatemale. A. II. RIVAS. [Inclosure 2 in No. 114.] Mr. Williamson to Señor Rivas. UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, Guatemala, March 16, 1874. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's esteemed favor of the 10th ultimo. Let me first assure you that a want of a reply to your favor of the 20th of December has been caused by my long absence in Honduras on official business; and the delay of one mail in answering that of the 10th of February is due to the fact that since my return, on the 3d instant, I have found the fatigue and exposure I had undergone had so affected my health, and particularly my eyes, that it was almost impossibie to attend to my correspondence. I shall hope your excellency will be pleased to accept this apology. Notwithstanding the flattering terms in which you have chosen to speak of the interest I have taken in the pacification of Central America, upon a basis that promised permanency, you do nothing more than simple justice to me and my Government in your estimate of its degree. But your excellency justly understands that the states, being sovereigns, and under able administrations, are capable of managing their own relations far better than any foreign country, no matter how friendly that country may be; and also, that I might defeat the very honorable object of my Government, of promoting the pacific settlement of all debatable questions in Central America by taking a more active part than has already been done, or by prosecuting that part further at present. If what seemed to me, a stranger, a desirable mode of adjusting complications between the states is defeated, or declined for any cause, it affords ine no occasion for complaint, nor will it in the least abate the concern with which I shall regard future developments. It may prove a consolatory reflection, should any disappointment be experienced, that I did not inaugurate the plan, and possibly it may be allowable for me to flatter myself by a recollection of the fact that all active preparations for war ceased, on both sides, so soon after it seemed probable the re-union of the Presidents would take place. Whatever merit attaches to my participation in producing this happy truce, or peace, is but another evidence of the sincere friendship of my Government for Nicaragua. As the representative of my country in these states, my mission is to promote a good understanding, as far as it is allowable, without giving cause of offense or involving my Government in a voluntary responsibility, which it does not pertain to its functions to assume. The experience of your excellency renders it almost needless to say that the sympɛthetic interest the United States has always taken in the republics of Central America has not been inspired by sentimental ideas, but is rather the natural outgrowth of near neighborhood, and of a generous desire that other independent states on the continent may enjoy the blessings of republicanism a good Providence has so bountifully bestowed on them. I submit, for your excellency's perusal, the accompanying copy of a dispatch from Mr. Seward, when Secretary of State, and take leave to add, that distinguished statesman, in this eloquent paper, suggests a policy of the United States in regard to the affairs of Central America which seems to be based upon a philosophy so sound, that I do not question it will commend itself to your unqualified approval. Your excellency will allow me to express my profound regret that diplomatic relations had not been resumed between Nicaragua and Costa Rica at the date of your letter, and also the hope that they will be happily established before this reaches you. In reply to that part of your excellency's letter in regard to the mission of Mr. Montufar, I have only to say that he is reported generally to be here on a confidential mission from the government of Costa Rica. He has had no official reception, and he has not been officially recognized here, up to this time, by the diplomatic body. I have had the pleasure of seeing him several times socially, but have no information as to his misSion, if it be of a political nature. By this mail I send, to the care of your excellency, four volumes, entitled "Papers relating to the treaty of Washington," which you will oblige me by causing to be delivered, with my compliments, to the Hon. Tomas Ayon, the recent minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of your government to Guatemala, whose pleasant acquaintance I had the good fortune to make. I have the honor to renew to your excellenev the assurance of my high consideration. Your obedient servant, SIR: Your very interesting dispatch of the 21st of September, No. 22, has been submitted to the President. He is profoundly affected by the consideration which is manifested toward this Government by His Excellency the President of Guatemala in his proposal to confer with it concerning projected organic changes in the governments of Guatemala and other Central American Republics. Whether the natural positions of these states, their respective material resources, their natural and artificial channels and highways, and the interests, sentiments, habits, aspirations, and sympathies of their various populations favor at the present time an intimate political and mutually defensive union, are questions upon which it would be presumptuous for foreign statesmen to pronounce. The inquiry about the proper government for any country is not always what is theoretically the best possible political system which has hitherto been devised among men, but what is the best political system which the people of the country will peacefully accept and confidingly maintain. How to choose this best possible political system is a question upon which foreign advice is not only naturally but even justly and wisely suspected. Jealousy upon that subject is the chief foundation of national independence. The President regards the agitation of the question of a re-union of the Central American Republics with favor, not, however, because he is prepared to say that the measure is practicable or expedient, but simply because it indicates a conviction that there are some common evils existing in the several states of Central America which are constantly reproducing civil and international wars, and a will and a purpose on the part of American statesmen there to correct them. The United States are too earnestly desirous for that correction to embarrass the parties concerned with advice which any class of the people of Central America, or any foreign state, might injuriously represent as proceeding from other than the most disinterested motives. Whatever may be the decision at which the consulting parties may arrive, it will be respected by the United States as wise and judicious, and they will remain equally the friends of the Central American powers, whether they re-unite or prefer to remain distinct and independent. You may read this dispatch to the minister for foreign affairs, and give him a copy if he shall desire it. I am, sir, your obedient servant, ELISHA O. CROSBY, Esq., Sc., de., Sc., Guatemale. WILLIAM II. SEWARD. |