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His Catholic Majesty of the 30th November, 1803, and upon the 7th article of the treaty between Colombia and Central America, by which those Republics engaged to respect their limits based upon the uti possidetis of 1810. Great Britain also claims that coast in behalf of the pretended king of the Mosquitos, and Nicaragua claims it as heir to the late confederation of Central America. With the conflicting claims of New Granada and Nicaragua we have no concern, and, indeed, there is reason to believe that they will be amicably adjusted. We entertain no doubt, however, that the title of Spain to the Mosquito shore was just, and that her rights have descended to her late colonies adjacent thereto. The Department has not hesitated to express this opinion in the instructions to Mr. Squier, the United States chargé d'affaires to Guatemala, and Mr. Bancroft has been instructed to make it known to the British Government also. You may acquaint the minister for foreign affairs of New Granada with our views on this subject, and may assure him that all the moral means in our power will be exerted to resist the adverse pretensions of Great Britain to that region."

Mr. Clayton, Sec. of State, to Mr. Foote, min. to New Granada, July 19, 1849, MS. Inst. Colombia, XV. 121.

For an elaborate discussion of the subject, see Mr. Clayton, Sec. of State, to Mr. Squier, May 1, 1849, MS. Inst. Am. States, XV. 64.

"I trust that means will speedily be adopted by Great Britain to extinguish the Indian title with the help of the Nicaraguans or the company, within what we consider to be the limits of Nicaragua. We have never acknowledged and never can acknowledge the existence of any claim of sovereignty in the Mosquito king or any other Indian in America. To do so would be to deny the title of the United States to our own territory. Having always regarded an Indian title as a mere right of occupancy, we can never agree that such a title should be treated otherwise than as a thing to be extinguished at the will of the discoverer of the country. Upon the ratification of the treaty, Great Britain will no longer have any interest to deny this principle, which she has recognized in every other case in common with us. 'Stat nominis umbra,' for she can neither occupy, fortify, or colonize, nor exercise dominion or control, in any part of the Mosquito coast or Central America. To attempt to do either of these things after the exchange of ratifications, would inevitably produce a rupture with the United States. By the terms of the treaty neither party can occupy to protect, nor protect to occupy.'

Mr. Clayton, Sec. of State, to Mr. Squier, chargé d'affaires to Cent. Am.,
May 7, 1850, MS. Inst. Am. States, XV. 104.
April 19, 1850, the day on which the Clayton-Bulwer treaty was signed, Mr.
Abbott Lawrence, American minister in London, sent to Mr. Clayton
an extended report of the results of his investigations of the Mosquito
question. With reference to this question, Mr. Bancroft Davis, in his

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notes to the treaties of the United States, says: "It was supposed that the most practicable route for a ship-canal was through the State of Nicaragua, by way of the San Juan River and the lakes through which it passes. The eastern coast of Nicaragua was occupied by a tribe called the Mosquito Indians, and Lord Palmerston officially informed Abbott Lawrence, the American minister at London, on the 13th of November, 1849, that a close political connection had existed between the Crown of Great Britain and the State and Territory of Mosquito for a period of about two centuries. This connection was asserted to have been founded on an alleged submission by the Mosquito King to the governor of Jamaica. The investigations made under Lawrence's directions enabled the United States not only to deny that, by public law, Indians could transfer sovereignty in the manner alleged, but also to show by contemporary evidence that no such transfer had been made. He quoted Sir Hans Sloane's account of the matter: ‘One King Jeremy came from the Mosquitoes (an Indian people near the provinces of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Costa Rica); he pretended to be a king there, and came from the others of his country to beg of the Duke of Albemarle, governor of Jamaica, his protection, and that he would send a governor thither with a power to war on the Spaniards and pirates. This he alleged to be due to his country from the Crown of England, who had in the reign of King Charles I submitted itself to him. The Duke of Albemarle did nothing in this matter.' And from another publication, reprinted in Churchill's Voyages, Lawrence was able to give an account of the original alleged submission in the time of Charles I: Hè, the King, says that his father, Oldman, King of the Mosquito men, was carried over to England soon after the conquest of Jamaica, and there received from his brother King a crown and commission, which the present old Jeremy still keeps safely by him, which is but a cocked hat and a ridiculous piece of writing that he should kindly use and release such straggling Englishmen as should choose to come that way, with plantains, fish, turtle, etc.'" (Treaty vol. 1776-1887, p. 1332.)

A long extract from Mr. Lawrence's dispatch is given in Correspondence in relation to the Proposed Interoceanic Canal (1885), 214.

As to the firing on the American steamer Prometheus by the British brig-ofwar Express, at Greytown, in November 1851, and Lord Granville's disavowal of the act, see message of President Fillmore to the Senate, Dec. 15, 1851, S. Ex. Doc. 6, 32 Cong. 1 sess.; 41 Br. & For. State Papers, 759.

Webster-Crampton arrangement.

"The Port of San Juan de Nicaragua, or Greytown, being, as you are aware, the terminus on the Atlantic, of the line of transit which has been for some time past in operation between New York and San Francisco, is frequently thronged with passengers between those places. It has, also, received of late, a considerable increase of settlers, many if not most of whom are citizens of the United States. Offences against property and persons must necessarily be of frequent occurrence in that place, and their frequency and enormity are likely to increase in proportion to the absence of authority competent to prevent and punish them. The power in existence at Greytown is claimed to be derived from the Mosquito Indians who have not been, and will not be, acknowledged as an inde

pendent nation by this Government. Negotiations are, however, in progress for the removal of all obstacles to the jurisdiction of the Republic of Nicaragua over that port. Meanwhile a temporary recognition of the existing authority of the place, sufficient to countenance any well intended endeavors on its part to preserve the public peace and punish wrong-doers, would not be inconsistent with the policy and honor of the United States. Under these circumstances, the President has directed me to make known to you his desire that instructions be at once given to the commanding officer of the United States Home Squadron, or to the officer in command of any United States vessel of war now at Greytown, in conjunction with her Britannic Majesty's Admiral, or such other officer commanding Her Britannic Majesty's vessels belonging to the squadron under his command, to see that all reasonable municipal and other regulations in force there are respected by the vessels and citizens of the United States resorting thither, and also, should any of those regulations appear to be manifestly unreasonable in their nature and improperly enforced, to give notice thereof, in concert with Her Britannic Majesty's Admiral, or other officer as above, to the acting authorities and procure them to to be modified accordingly. The President likewise desires that, if any tonnage duties or port charges levied on vessels there should be found to be exorbitant in amount, or discriminating in their nature, or when collected notoriously applied to improper purposes, you will instruct one or the other of those officers to protest in accordance (sic) with Her Britannie Majesty's Admiral or other officer against them, and to do all that may be proper towards having the abuses corrected. In view of the success of high public objects, it is important that these orders should be executed with moderation, temper and firmness, and the President does not doubt that they will be thus carried out. Instructions similar to the above will be addressed by Her Britannic Majesty's Government to the Admiral commanding on the West India station."

Mr. Webster, Sec. of State, to Mr. Graham, Sec. of Navy, March 17, 1852,
40 MS. Dom. Let. 24.

See, to the same effect, Mr. Webster, Sec. of State, to Commodore Parker,
U. S. N., March 13, 1852, 41 Br. & For. State Papers, 796.

See also message of President Fillmore, Jan. 21, 1853, S. Ex. Doc. 27, 32
Cong. 2 sess.

"The settlement of the question respecting the port of San Juan de Nicaragua and of the controversy between the Republics of Costa Rica and Nicaragua in regard to their boundaries was considered indispensable to the commencement of the ship-canal between the two oceans, which was the subject of the convention between the United States and Great Britain of the 19th of April, 1850. Accordingly, a proposition for the same purposes, addressed to the two Governments in that quarter and to the Mosquito Indians, was agreed

to in April last by the Secretary of State and the minister of Her
Britannic Majesty. Besides the wish to aid in reconciling the differ-
ences of the two Republics, I engaged in the negotiation from a de-
sire to place the great work of a ship-canal between the two oceans
under one jurisdiction and to establish the important port of San
Juan de Nicaragua under the government of a civilized power. The
proposition in question was assented to by Costa Rica and the Mos-
quito Indians.
It has not proved equally acceptable to Nicaragua,
but it is to be hoped that the further negotiations on the subject
which are in train will be carried on in that spirit of conciliation and
compromise which ought always to prevail on such occasions, and
that they will lead to a satisfactory result:"

President Fillmore, annual message, Dec. 6, 1852.
and Papers, V. 166.)

(Richardson's Messages

The proposed basis for the settlement of Central American affairs, above referred to, was signed at Washington, by Mr. Webster, Secretary of State, and Sir John Crampton, British minister, April 30, 1852. The Mosquito Indians were to be permitted to reserve for themselves a certain portion of territory. All the rest of the territory claimed by them, including Greytown, they were to relinquish to Nicaragua; and they were to have the right definitively to incorporate themselves into Nicaragua. The public authority in Greytown was to be exercised by Nicaragua, but no duty, except tonnage dues necessary for preserving and lighting the port, was to be charged on goods in transit. A definition was made of the rights of boundary and navigation of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. It was agreed, in conformity with Art. II. of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, that the distance within which vessels should be exempt from blockade, detention or capture should be 25 miles from either end of the canal. The American Atlantic and Pacific Ship-Canal Company was to have a year to comply with the stipulations of Art. VII. of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The two governments were also to extend their protection to the Accessory Transit Company. Finally, the American and British diplomatic representatives in Costa Rica and Nicaragua were to be instructed to endeavor to induce those governments to accept the terms of the arrangement. (Correspondence in relation to the Proposed Interoceanic Canal (Washington, 1885), 102–104.)

See, also, Mr. Webster, Sec. of State, to Mr. Lawrence, min. to England, May 14, 1852, Cor. in relation to the Proposed Interoceanic Canal (Washington, 1885), 13, 242; Mr. Lawrence to Mr. Webster, June 8, 1852, id. 243; Mr. Everett, Sec. of State, to Mr. Kerr, min. to Cent. Am., Dec. 30, 1852, id. 13.

See message of President Fillmore to the Senate, Feb. 18, 1853, accompanied with correspondence with the British minister concerning the interoceanic canal, S. Ex. Doc. 44, 32 Cong. 2 sess.

Position of Mr.
Marcy.

"The United States cannot recognize as valid any title set up by the people at San Juan derived from the Mosquito Indians. It concedes to this tribe of Indians only a possessory right-a right to occupy and use for themselves the country in their possession, but not the right of sovereignty or eminent domain over it."

Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Ingersoll, June 9, 1853, MS. Inst. Gr.
Brit. XVI. 210.

See, also, Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Buchanan, min. to England, July
2, 1853, H. Ex. Doc. 1, 34 Cong. 1 sess. 42; same to same, Sept. 12, 1853,
id. 49; Dec. 1, 1853, id. 50.

"The political condition of what is called the Mosquito Kingdom has for
several years past been a matter of discussion between the United States
and Great Britain. This Government has uniformly held that the Mos-
quito Indians are a savage tribe, and that though they have rights as
the occupants of the country where they are, they have no sovereign or
political authority there, and no capacity to transfer to individuals an
absolute and permanent title to the lands in their possession, and that
the right of eminent domain-which only can be the source of such
title is in certain of the Central American States.

"If the emigrants [persons purposing to settle in the Mosquito territory]
should be formed into companies, commanded by officers, and furnished
with arms, such organization would assume the character of a military
expedition, and being hardly consistent with professions of peaceful
objects, would devolve upon this Government the duty of inquiring
whether it be not a violation of our neutrality act." (Mr. Marcy, Sec.
of State, to Mr. Kinney, Feb. 4, 1855, 43 MS. Dom. Let. 362.)
Mr. Cushing, as Attorney General, in 1853, advised that, although the pre-
tension of a protectorate over the Mosquito Indians was inadmissible,
yet neither party to the Clayton-Bulwer treaty had by that instrument
renounced the right to afford protection in Central America in proper
cases. (8 Op. 436.)

See Dallas' Letters from London, I. 11; T. J. Lawrence's Essays on Int.
Law, 89 et seq.; Lawrence's Wheaton (1863), 71.

"The British Government deny that it has yielded anything by that (1850) treaty in regard to its protectorate of the Mosquito Indians. It, however, professes a willingness, as I understand, to withdraw that protectorate if the Government of Nicaragua can be induced to treat the Mosquitos fairly and allow them some compensation for the territory now claimed by them, for the relinquishment of their occupancy, and for the peaceable surrender of it to Nicaragua. Admitting these Indians to be what the United States and Nicaragua regard them, a savage tribe, having only possessory rights to the country they occupy, and not the sovereignty of it, they cannot fairly be required to yield up their actual possessions without some compensation. Might not this most troublesome element in this Central American question be removed by Nicaragua in a way just in itself, and entirely compatible with her national honor? Let her arrange this matter as we arrange those of the same character with the Indian tribes inhabiting portions of our own territory."

Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Borland, min. to Cent. Am., June 17, 1853,
MS. Inst. Am. St. XV. 177.

"The United States Government, in its correspondence with the British Government, has denied the pretensions set up for the people

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