given many proofs, and are now giving still one more, which is that of sending out of the port of Amapala armed vessels to capture all vessels coming from the minor ports of Nicaragua to La Union, a port of this republic. Out of one of these captured vessels they have taken the lieutenant, Dr. Jose Maria Ballecillos, who was bound to this republic and in my service. Ballecillos is there treated as a prisoner of war, and those who had charge of the vessel were also very ill-treated. I beg of you, Mr. Minister, to lay this before his excellency the President, that be may decide what course the officers in command of the expeditionary forces going to Honduras are to pursue, because it is a very serious inconvenience to the Salvadorean forces that those of Honduras be permitted to do all the harm they can, at the same time that the Salvadoreans observe a strict neutrality. Be pleased, Mr. Minister, to advise me of the President's resolution, and to accept the considerations, &c., &c. The Hon. MINISTER OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. TOMAS MARTINEZ. No. 3. UNITED STATES LEGATION, San Salvador, March 6, 1871. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt on the 5th instant of your excellency's communication dated the 6th, in regard to the neutrality of the Honduras Railroad, and inclosing a copy of a letter dated the 4th instant, addressed by Thomas Martinez, general-in-chief of the expeditionary army of Salvador, to his government on the same subject. In your dispatch you remark, viz: "To avoid, then, any ulterior reclamations that might come from your government, the President has directed me to urge upon you in the name of this government to employ, if you deem it proper, your good offices with the government of Honduras, and obtain from its part an equal effect for the stipulated neutrality," &c. To this end, if you will refer to my dispatch of February 20, and to the accompanying letter (marked C) to the minister of foreign relations for Honduras, you will see that I have anticipated the desires of his excellency the President. Moreover, I am pleased to inform you that I am in receipt of a copy of a letter dated February 25 from the minister of Honduras, answering my requests, and he informs me that you have been furnished with the same dispatch. In said dispatch occurs the following, viz: "And to avoid all pretext for attack, occupation, or trespass of any nature upon any point of the railroad line, I have to declare to you that requisite orders are given to the effect that the regular garrisons and the military detachments employed in guarding the works of the railroad from Amapala to Puerto Cortes be reduced to the ordinary number, and be solely charged with the duty of preserving order in the interior; and moreover that the government of Honduras will not make use of, as a base for military operations to repel the unjust aggressions of the Salvador government, any of the points on the line, and much less of those where the works are organized," &c. As the matter stands, if both Salvador and Honduras adhere faithfully to their compromises there will be no trouble in regard to the neutrality of said railroad line. In regard to the communication of General Martinez he says, viz: "The government of Honduras has declared neutral the port of Amapala, and the same been perhaps done by the powers that guarantee the railroad of that republic;" and I would say that the United States recognizes the rights of sovereignty and property of Honduras in and over the line of the railroad from Amapala to Puerto Cortes, and guarantees the entire neutrality of the same for certain purposes and on certain conditions, and for this guarantee Honduras has agreed, at my suggestion, that the port of Amapala and the line of the railroad shall sustain a neutral attitude in case of war between that state and Salvador. It is not my place to comment on the very sweeping denunciation of General Martinez on the faithlessness of Honduras in fulfilling her treaty and international obligations; but the case as he represents it, viz: "Honduras sending out of the port of Amapala armed vessels to capture all vessels coming from the minor ports of Nicaragua to La Union in Salvador," seems to me to be a question to be settled between Honduras and Nicaragua. And as to the particular case of Lieutenant Ballecillos referred to, I cannot give a positive opinion without hearing from the government of Honduras. Moreover the general states that the lieutenant was on his way to this republic and in his service and not that of Salvador. At present, however, it appears to me to have been an unlawful act, and I will ask an explanation and request that he be released. In this connection it is not out of place to remark that it appears that Honduras has cut all treaty relations and communications with Salvador, whether wisely or not she is the only judge, and if she will not allow any communication through her waters to Salvador, international right and usage will give her complete control of her maritime territory and a marine league along all the coasts of the state. Within these limits her rights of property and territorial jurisdiction are absoluto and exclude those of any other nation. Nor are these rights abridged by the United States guaranteeing the neutrality of a line of railroad from ocean to ocean, but she still retains the right to guard her coast to prevent intrusions, to warn off, &c. ; but, without a declaration of war, I do not believe she is justified in making arrests like the case referred to. And in case of war with Salvador, Honduras should not, (in view of the said nentrality,) and she says she will not, use this port, nor any part of the line of the railroad to make aggressions on the territory of Salvador. SIR: Your dispatches, Nos. 32 and 34, of the 19th and 20th ultimo respectively, have been received. In reply to your inquiry as to the extent of the obligation assumed by this Government in the fourteenth article of its treaty with Honduras of 1861, relative to the guarantee of a railway across that republic, I have to state that it has always been understood here that that obligation does not attach until the completion of that work. The guarantee was given as a consideration for certain advantages which, as they cannot be enjoyed until the road shall have been finished, this Government cannot until then properly be called upon to repel an invasion of the route from abroad. I am, &c., No. 313. HAMILTON FISH. No. 44.1 Mr. Torbert to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, San Salvador, April 7, 1871. (Received May 2.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a translation copy (marked A) of a note received from the minister of foreign affairs of Honduras, in regard to the Honduras Railroad. I furnished a copy of said note to the government of Salvador, and the translation copy (marked B) herewith is their answer to the same. I am, &c., A. ALFRED T. A. TORBERT. Sr. Don Francisco Alvarado to Mr. A. T. A. Torbert. [Translation.] REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS, DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SIR: The government has learned to-day that a Salvadorean division, commanded by General Miranda, invaded the territory of this state on the 22d instant by the place called Goascoran, and that a part of the force had occupied the said place and the other had proceeded toward the town of Langue. As it is quite possible that the expedition may come upon this capital, which is on of the most important on the railroad route, the superintending engineers of the works having their offices therein, and as the government, by reason of its being a neutral point, could not and should not make use of it as a "point d'appui" for military operations, I hereby declare to you, in the name of my government, that in the event of the Salvador forces making the attempt to occupy this capital, all the inhabitants, both permanent and transient, together with their interests, will remain under the protection of the great powers who have guaranteed the neutrality of the Honduras Railroad line, one of which powers is the great American republic that you honorably repre- | sent in that country. The government therefore trusts that you will be pleased to adopt the necessary measures to prevent any attack against this city and the other towns on the railroad route, inasmuch as there is no reason whatever for their being occupied or molested by the enemies of Honduras. By order of the government I write you this communication, hoping that you will furnish me with a timely answer thereto, and accept my respects and consideration. FRANCISCO ALVARADO. B. Salvador Gallegos to Mr. A. T. A. Torbert. [Translation.] DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS OF SALVADOR, National Palace, San Salvador, April 4, 1871. SIR: This department has received your excellency's note of the 3d instant, together with the accompanying copy of the communication which was addressed to your excellency by the department of foreign affairs of Honduras, claiming the neutrality of i Comayagua as one of the most important points of the railroad liue, that government having been advised that a Salvadorean division had invaded the soil of Honduras by Goasceran. As I had the honor of stating to your excellency in my official letter of the 22d of February last, the government of Salvador, in recognition of the neutrality of the railway, promised to your excellency to issue all the necessary orders to have the said neutrality duly respected in the event of an invasion by forces of this republic. To this effect I have the pleasure of giving your excellency the assurance that at the proper time the requisite orders for this purpose were given to General Don Florencio Xatruch, chief of the expeditionary army, who has, besides, advised my government of his having come to an understanding, at the town of Nacaome, with the engineers of the railroad, in order to proceed with greater certainty in his military operations, without any violation of the neutrality. For these reasons his excellency the President, on being informed of the contents of the note from the Honduras foreign office, a copy of which your excellency has been pleased to furnish me with, has directed me to again signify to your excellency the recognition that this government has made of the neutrality of all the railroad route, in which sense the proper orders have been given and will be repeated. In fulfilling the grateful duty of apprising your excellency of this in answer to your note above referred to, it affords me much pleasure to renew to you the assurances of my particular esteem and consideration. I am, &c., SALVADOR GALLEGOS, The Chief of Bureau in Charge of the Department of Foreign Relations, No. 314. Mr. Fish to Mr. Torbert. No. 30.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, April 10, 1871. SIR: Your dispatch No. 37, of the 7th ultimo, has been received. It is noticed that in your note to the minister for foreign affairs of Salvador of the 6th ultimo, a copy of which accompanies that dispatch, you state unqualifiedly that this Government guarantees the neutrality of the railway which has been commenced across Honduras between the two oceans. The instruction to you of the 20th ultimo, which you will have received before this reaches you, does not confirm that opinion. Still it is not deemed necessary that, for the present at least, you should address any note to the Salvadorian minister for foreign affairs correcting or qualifying the opinion upon the subject which you had already expressed. San Salvador, April 21, 1871. (Received May 16.) SIR: The undersigned, minister resident, has the honor to inclose herewith a copy, and translation of the same, (marked A,) of a dispatch received from the minister of foreign relations for Salvador and his answer to the same, (marked B.) This has been a delicate and painful duty for me; so the first note which was received I showed to Señor Dueñas, and he not being satisfied with the wording as to the guarantee of his life, I requested the minister to send another with more explicit language, which he did; and the note inclosed was approved by Señor Dueñas, who is a lawyer by profession and is willing to be tried by the laws of his country. I am, &c., ALFRED T. A. TORBERT. A. Señor Don Gregorio Arbizu to Mr. Torbert. [Translation.] DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS OF SALVADOR, MR. MINISTER: My government is informed that the ex-president of the republic, Dr. Don Francisco Dueñas, is now living in the house of the legation which is under your excellency's charge. The presence of Señor Dueñas in your excellency's residence necessarily brings to yon inconvenience and annoyances, which the government wishes to save you, by leaving you the free use of all its dependencies and removing the guard that surrounds the house with the object, mainly, that the same may not be assaulted, nor Señor Dueñas insulted by some individuals of the people who are highly incensed against him. The government, moreover, must keep Señor Dueñas in safe custody for his own personal security, and because, pursuant to our legislation, he must be subjected to a trial. Upon these considerations my government has decided to transfer Señor Dueñas to a house that is to serve for him as a place of detention pending the trial aforesaid, and to effect the same, desires and expects that your excellency will be pleased to express your acquiescence to the measure indicated. The honorable minister of the United States must rely upon the formal assurance which the government gives him by these presents, that the life of Señor Dueñas will be respected as far as it may be in its power to avoid any attempt against the same, and equally, upon any event, that he will be kept in custody without causing him unnecessary annoyance. I request of your excellency to be pleased to give me a reply as early as possible upon the subject, and to accept anew the assurances of my high esteem and consideration. GREGORIO ARBIZU. B. Mr. Torbert to Señor Dr. Don Gregorio Arbizu, minister of foreign relations. UNITED STATES LEGATION, SIR: The undersigned, minister resident of the United States of America near the government of Salvador, has had the honor to receive the polite communication of this date which the minister of foreign affairs for the republic was pleased to direct to him, claiming the delivery of the person, ex-president Señor Dr. Don Francisco Dueñas, who is now living under the protection of this legation. In virtue of the reasons adduced in said note, and on account of the solemn guarantee of the supreme government, (and the personal assurance given him by the President himself,) that in no case will Señor Dueñas's life be forfeited, he has the honor to reply to Señor Dr. Arbizu, minister, &c., for the information of his government, that he accepts the guarantee and is ready to deliver the person of ex-president Señor Dr. Don. Francisco Dueñas to the agents who may be appointed by the supreme gov ernment of Salvador to receive him. Having due respect for the sovereignty of the state, this action is taken, and it is a matter of great personal satisfaction to the undersigned that the government gives the assurance that Señor Dueñas will be treated during his detention with special consideration. With the highest consideration and esteem, I remain, &c., &c., ALFRED T. A. TORBERT. No. 49.] No. 316. Mr. Torbert to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, San Salvador, May 4, 1871. (Received May 31.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a translation copy (marked A) of a communication received from President Medina, of Honduras. At the time of its reception the war between Salvador and Honduras was virtually over, and about the same time I received your dispatch No. 25, giving the views of the Department on the subject of the guaranteed neutrality of the Honduras Railroad by the United States, and supposing that the Department, after seeing the letter of President Medina, would rather reply more direct through the United States minister resident to that state, I have made no reply; so the matter rests as you suggested, neither Salvador nor Honduras knowing the exact interpretation put upon the treaty by the United States. I am, &c., . A. ALFRED T. A. TORBERT. President of Honduras to Mr. Tobert. [Translation.] SAN MIGUEL, April 13, 1871. SIR: By virtue of the guarantee of neutrality which the Government of the American Union proffered to Honduras in an existing treaty, with reference to the points that might serve the purposes of the interoceanic railroad, my government apprised you that the port of Amapala should not be used as a base for military operations, leaving it therefore under your safeguard, and removing the force it had therein sta tioned. Greatly was the government of Honduras pained on learning a few days later that a body of troops, in the service of Don Francisco Dueñas, compelled the port authorities to leave, and carried off the war material that was there to protect it; and this with |