America." It was signed by representatives of the three States, at Managua, August 27, 1898, and was to take effect November 1. On that day, pursuant to its provisions, a provisional executive council was installed at Amapala, to last till a president should be elected by the people. Almost immediately, however, revolutionary movements occurred, and particularly a separatist movement in Salvador. November 29, 1898, the provisional executive council announced the dissolution of the union, and similar announcements by the individual States immediately followed, each one resuming its independent sovereignty." "This was followed by the reception of Minister Merry by the republics of Nicaragua and Salvador, while Minister Hunter in turn presented his credentials to the Government of Honduras, thus reverting to the old distribution of the diplomatic agencies of the United States in Central America for which our existing statutes provide. A Nicaraguan envoy has been accredited to the United States." 9. MEXICO. President Pierce, in a special message of May 15, 1856, observed that "five successive revolutionary governments" had Comonfort, Zuloaga, and Miramon made their appearance in Mexico "in the course of a Governments. few months, and been recognized successively each as the political power of that country by the United States." On the very day on which this message was published, Ignatius Comonfort, as vice-president of the Republic, in the exercise of extraordinary powers, proclaimed a provisional constitution. In the following year the present federal- constitution of Mexico was adopted. Comonfort took an oath to support it, and was elected constitutional president for the four years beginning December 1, 1857. Within a month, as the result of a revolution, he was driven from power, and a military government was set up by General Zuloaga. This government was recognized by the entire diplomatic corps, including Mr. Forsyth, the minister of the United States, without awaiting instructions. No answer appears to have been made to the dispatch in which Mr. Forsyth reported this action." Zuloaga, however, was soon expelled by a For. Rel. 1898, 173-178. › President McKinley, Annual Message, Dec. 5, 1899. Dec. 6, 1898, Mr. Hay, Secretary of State, telegraphed to Mr. Hunter that, as the union of the United States of Central America had apparently broken up without restoration of the Diet, he should address the executive of Honduras, offering to present his original credentials. (For. Rel., 1899, 355.) Dec. 20, 1898, Mr. Hunter, in order to make sure that his credentials would be received, transmitted by mail to the minister of foreign affairs of Honduras his original credentials and letter to President Bonilla. (For. Rel., 1898, 356.) He was duly advised of his recognition as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Republic of Honduras. The decree so recognizing him was dated January 19, 1899. (For. Rel. 1899, 357-360.) e H. Ex. Doc. 103, 34 Cong. 1 sess. 5. d Moore, Int. Arbitrations, II. 1289. General Miramon, with whom the foreign ministers also entered into relations. But in June, 1858, Mr. Forsyth, dissatisfied with the state of his negotiations, broke off diplomatic relations with the Miramon government till he should ascertain the decision of the President. President Buchanan approved his decision, and directed him to demand his passports and return to the United States. Meanwhile, Benito Juarez, who as chief justice of the Republic became the constitutional president on the deposiJuarez Government. tion of Comonfort, but who as leader of the Liberal party was compelled to fly from the capital, had after many vicissitudes succeeded in establishing a government at Vera Cruz. On the strength of a report of a confidential agent, President Buchanan sent out a new minister, Mr. McLane, with discretionary authority to recognize the government of President Juarez if, on his arrival in Mexico, he should find it entitled to recognition according to the established practice of the United States. Mr. McLane was specifically instructed that it was not an essential condition of the recognition of a government that it should be in possession of the capital, but that it was enough if it was "obeyed over a large majority of the country and the people, and is likely to continue." Mr. McLane, on April 7, 1859, presented his credentials to President Juarez, and thus recognized his government, which he pronounced to be "the only existing government of the Republic." The government of Maximilian in Mexico never was recognized by the United States, the recognition of the Juarez government continuing throughout the period of the The Empire. French intervention. The Mexican law for the settlement of the national debt, proclaimed June 18, 1883, Art. I, sec. 5, reads: "We can not recognize, and for this reason there are not to enter into this conversion, the debts which emanated from the government which pretended to exist in Mexico from Dec. 17, 1857, to Dec. 24, 1860, and from June 1, 1863, to June 21, 1867." (Mr. Adee, Second Assist. Sec. of State, to Mr. Banks, Dec. 10, 1897, MSS. Dept. of State.) a Mr. Cass, Secretary of State, to Mr. McLane, Mar. 7, 1859, MS. Inst. Mexico, XVII. 213; also, same to same, May 25, 1859, id. 232. Curtis, Life of Buchanan, II. 215. See, also, Mr. Cass, Secretary of State, to Mr. Dallas, May 12, 1859, MS. Inst. Gr. Britain, XVII. 190, referring to the recognition of the Juarez government by the United States, and deprecating the employment against it of forcible measures, which Great Britain was reported then to contemplate for the collection of claims against Mexico, although the British minister still maintained relations with the Miramon government at the capital. Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, May 16, 1864, MS. Inst. Papal States, I. 75; Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Bigelow, March 13, 1865, MS. Inst. France, XVII. 296; Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to the Marquis de Montholon, Memorandum, July 18, 1865, MS. Notes to French Leg. VIII. 140; Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Scudder, May 4, 1866, 73 MS. Dom. Let. 32, Correspondence and Memoranda, Dip. Cor. 1865, III. 484-489. ment. November 28, 1876, General Porfirio Diaz issued a proclamation announcing himself provisional president of the repubFirst Diaz Govern- lic of Mexico, under the plan of Tuxtepec." January 19, 1877, intelligence having been received at Washington of the defeat of the forces of the rival claimants, Mr. Fish suggested that if this should be confirmed by similar tidings received at the City of Mexico, General Diaz "would have no important adversary in arms, and might be regarded as the actual ruler of the country." The question of recognizing his government was under the circumstances left to the discretion of the American minister. In view, however, of the unsettled state of affairs in Mexico, and especially of the existence of controversies between the two countries growing out of troubles on the Rio Grande frontier, it was afterwards determined that the government of the United States, although it was "accustomed to accept and recognize the results of a popular choice in Mexico and not to scrutinize closely the regularity or irregularity of the methods" by which those results were brought about, would in the particular instance "wait before recognizing General Diaz as President of Mexico until it shall be assured that his election is approved by the Mexican people, and that his administration is possessed of stability to endure and of disposition to comply with the rules of international comity and the obligations of treaties." The Diaz government was officially recognized by Germany, May 30, 1877; by Salvador and Guatemala, June 7; by Spain, June 16, and soon afterwards similar action was taken by Italy. These were all the powers then represented in Mexico, except the United States. In his annual message of December 3, 1877, President Hayes stated that it had been "the custom of the United States, when such [revolutionary] changes of government have heretofore occurred in Mexico, to recognize and enter into official relations with the de facto government as soon as it should appear to have the approval of the Mexican people and should manifest a disposition to adhere to the obligations of treaties and international friendship," but that "in the present case such official recognition has been deferred by the occurrences on the Rio Grande border." Official recognition was given early in May, 1878, when a formal reception was accorded to a new minister from Mexico, and the President formally replied to the letter of General Diaz announcing the recall of the previous representative a Mr. Foster, minister to Mexico, to Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, Nov. 29, 1876, For. Rel. 1877, 385. b For. Rel. 1877, 394. e Mr. F. W. Seward, acting Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, May 16, 1877, For. Rel. 1877,404. See, also, Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, Feb. 12, 1877, MS. Inst. Mexico, XIX. 321; Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, March 27, 1877, id. 327. d For. Rel. 1877, 409, 426. e Id. p. xii. f For. Rel. 1878, 675; Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foster, May 8, 1878, MS. Inst. Mexico, XIX. 408. 10. VENEZUela. § 52. Paez Government. The minister of the United States at Caracas in 1862 having without authority recognized the government of General Paez, he was instructed to inform that government that his action was disavowed and annulled. He was also instructed to explain that this decision did not imply "any hositility, or even any disfavor" to the government, much less an opinion that it was "not founded in justice or in right,” or that it had not been successfully established. The object of the United States was "to manifest the conviction" that it belonged to the Venezuelan state to establish and maintain its own government without intervention, intrusion, or even influence, from foreign nations, and especially from the United States," and that as yet there had been seen "no such conclusive evidence" that the Paez government was "the act of the Venezuelan state as to justify an acknowledgment thereof." The United States observed with regret * an unquiet and revolutionary spirit pervading the republican states on this continent, involving them continually in desolating and exhausting civil wars, ultimately subversive not only of national independence, but even of liberty itself." The United States therefore deemed it a duty to discourage that spirit so far as it can be done by standing entirely aloof from all such domestic controversies until in each case the state immediately concerned shall unmistakably prove that the government which claims to represent it is fully accepted and peacefully maintained by the people thereof." " * * * "The revocation [of the U. S. minister's act of recognition] was the more reluctantly made because General Paez, by his character, had already most favorably impressed the government and people of the United States, and so far as their wishes and feelings might be manifested, consistently with the law of nations, they actually desired the consolidation of the national authority of Venezuela under the auspices of his government. It is only necessary now to add, or rather to state more distinctly, what has been before intimated, that, for a considerable period, considerations quite foreign from the domestic condition of Venezuela have hitherto forbidden the United States from recognizing new authorities arising in the Spanish-American states through domestic revolution, and that the delay in regard to Venezuela is to be understood as implying no hostility, disfavor, or distrust in regard to the government of General Paez.” Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Culver, March 9, 1863, MS. Inst. Venezuela, The remains of General Paez, who after his downfall came to the United * Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Culver, Nov. 19, 1862, MS. Inst. Venezuela, I. 250. See, as to the Paez government, Moore, Int. Arbitrations, IV. 3558. The government of President Falcon was recognized late in the summer of 1864, after a probation of nearly a year.“ Falcon Government. After the overthrow of the Falcon government in 1868,' another period of waiting was entered upon till one of the rival claimants should prove his title to recognition. Guzman Blanco was ultimately successful. On his restoration to power by the revolution of 1879, General Guzman Blanco convoked a "congress of plenipotenRevolution of 1879; tiaries," consisting of representatives from the several Guzman Blanco. States of Venezuela, which formed a provisional government and elected him provisional president. He was soon recognized by the diplomatic representatives of Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The United States, however, deferred its recognition, Mr. Evarts, who was then Secretary of State, taking a position similar to that which he had previously assumed with reference to the new government of Mexico. The new administration of Venezuela, he observed, was "not understood to have gained power by any constitutional process of election or endorsement," and, while "its claims to de facto recognition" were "weighty," it was "thought best to defer formal intercourse" till assurance could be had that "such a step will not only rest on the popular will of Venezuela, but I will also be beneficial to the relations between the United States and that country. Good faith in the observance of international obligations is the first essential towards the maintenance of such relations. At present there is no indication that any change for the better has taken place, either as regards the payment of the indemnity installments, now for several months in default, or the security of the rights of citizens of the United States sojourning in Venezuela." The American minister was therefore to "maintain a considerate and conciliatory attitude" in his "unofficial relations with the new government," with a view to bring about with all convenient speed a proper understanding upon the pending issues as the necessary preface to formal recognition;" and he was to "cooperate in all proper ways. (short of formal recognition until so instructed) in the good work of preserving intact the friendly relations between the two countries.”/ e @ Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Culver, Aug. 24, 1864, MS. Inst. Venezuela, I. 309; same to same, Oct. 21, 1863, id. 288. Moore, Int. Arbitrations, II. 1693 et seq. Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Bruzual, Aug. 27, 1868, MS. Notes to Venezuelan Leg., I. 136. d For. Rel. 1879, pp. 1041, 1043. f Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Baker, April 8, 1879, MS. Inst. Venezuela, III. 61. / Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Baker, April 10, 1879, MS. Inst. Venezuela, III. 63. 66 As a general rule of foreign policy, obtaining since the foundation of our government, the recognition of a foreign government by this is not dependent on right, but on fact. For this reason, when a change occurs in the administration of a nation, |