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by his successor, just as we now make King Toms and King Jacks among the negroes of Western Africa; but, if treaties are to be considered as at all binding, it is quite clear that we have not the right, nor even the permission of residence on the Mosquito Shore, and that we cut logwood and mahogany on the shores of Honduras Bay only by sufferance.

It is worthy of remark that in a reply to the Review, published in 1823, is the admission that "this territory belongs to Spain."

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24.-Clayton-Bulwer treaty of April 19, 1850.

The United States of America and Her Britannic Majesty, being desir ous of consolidating the relations of amity which so happily subsist between them, by setting forth and fixing in a convention their views and intentions with reference to any means of communication by shipcanal which may be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by the way of the river San Juan de Nicaragua and either or both of the Lakes of Nicaragua or Managua, to any port or place on the Pacific Ocean, the President of the United States has conferred full powers on John M. Clayton, Secretary of State of the United States, and Her Britannic Majesty on the Right Honorable Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, a member of Her Majesty's most honorable privy council, knight commander of the most honorable Order of the Bath, and envoy extraordi nary and minister plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the United States, for the aforesaid purpose; and the said plenipotentiaries having exchanged their full powers, which were found to be in proper form, have agreed to the following articles:

ARTICLE I.

The Governments of the United States and Great Britain hereby declare that neither the one nor the other will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over the said ship-canal; agreeing that neither will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same or in the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America; nor will either make use of any protection which either affords or may afford, or any alliance which either has or may have to or with any state or people, for the purpose of erecting or maintaining any such fortifications, or of occupying, fortifying, or colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America, or of assuming or exercising dominion over the same; nor will the United States or Great Britain take advantage of any intimacy, or use any alliance, connection, or influ ence that either may possess with any state or government through whose territory the said canal may pass, for the purpose of acquiring or holding, directly or indirectly, for the citizens or subjects of the one, any rights or advantages in regard to commerce or navigation through the said canal which shall not be offered on the same terms to the citi zens or subjects of the other.

ARTICLE II.

Vessels of the United States or Great Britain traversing the said canal shall, in case of war between the contracting parties, be exempted from

blockade, detention, or capture by either of the belligerents; and this provision shall extend to such a distance from the two ends of the said canal as may hereafter be found expedient to establish.

ARTICLE III.

In order to secure the construction of the said canal, the contracting parties engage that if any such canal shall be undertaken upon fair and equitable terms by any parties having the authority of the local government or governments through whose territory the same may pass, then the persons employed in making the said canal, and their property used, or to be used, for that object, shall be protected, from the commencement of the said canal to its completion, by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain, from unjust detention, confiscation, seizure, or any violence whatsoever.

ARTICLE IV.

The contracting parties will use whatever influence they respectively exercise with any state, states, or governments, possessing or claiming to possess any jurisdiction or right over the territory which the said canal shall traverse, or which shall be near the waters applicable thereto, in order to induce such states or governments to facilitate the construction of the said canal by every means in their power. And furthermore, the United States and Great Britain agree to use their good offices, wherever or however it may be most expedient, in order to procure the establishment of two free ports, one at each end of the said canal.

ARTICLE V.

The contracting parties further engage, that when the said canal shall have been completed, they will protect it from interruption, seizure, or unjust confiscation, and that they will guarantee the neutrality thereof, so that the said canal may forever be open and free, and the capital invested therein secure. Nevertheless, the Governments of the United States and Great Britain, in according their protection to the construction of the said canal, and guaranteeing its neutrality and security when completed, always understand that this protection and guarantee are granted conditionally, and may be withdrawn by both governments, or either government, if both governments, or either government, should deem that the persons or company undertaking or managing the same adopt or establish such regulations concerning the traffic thereupon as are contrary to the spirit and intention of this convention, either by making unfair discriminations in favor of the commerce of one of the contracting parties over the commerce of the other, or by imposing op. pressive exactions or unreasonable tolls upon passengers, vessels, goods, wares, merchandise, or other articles. Neither party, however, shall withdraw the aforesaid protection and guarantee without first giving six months' notice to the other.

ARTICLE VI.

The contracting parties in this convention engage to invite every statė with which both or either have friendly intercourse to enter into stipulations with them similar to those which they have entered into with each other, to the end that all other states may share in the honor and advantage of having contributed to a work of such general interest and importance as the canal herein contemplated. And the contracting parties likewise

agree that each shall enter into treaty stipulations with such of the Central American States as they may deem advisable, for the purpose of more effectually carrying out the great design of this convention, namely, that of constructing and maintaining the said canal as a ship communication between the two oceans for the benefit of mankind, on equal terms to all, and of protecting the same; and they also agree, that the good offices of either shall be employed, when requested by the other, in aiding and assisting the negotiation of such treaty stipulations; and should any differences arise as to right or property over the territory through which the said canal shall pass between the states or governments of Central America, and such differences should in any way impede or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the Governments of the United States and Great Britain will use their good offices to settle such differences in the manner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance which exist between the contracting parties.

ARTICLE VII.

It being desirable that no time should be unnecessarily lost in commencing and constructing the said canal, the Governments of the United States and Great Britain determine to give their support and encouragement to such persons or company as may first offer to commence the same, with the necessary capital, the consent of the local authorities, and on such principles as accord with the spirit and intention of this convention; and if any persons or company should already have, with any state through which the proposed ship canal may pass, a contract for the construction of such a canal as that specified in this convention, to the stipulations of which contract neither of the contracting parties in this convention have any just cause to object, and the said persons or company shall moreover have made preparations, and expended time, money, and trouble, on the faith of such contract, it is hereby agreed that such persons or company shall have a priority of claim over every other person, persons, or company to the protection of the Governments of the United States and Great Britain, and be allowed a year from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this convention for concluding their arrangements, and presenting evidence of sufficient capital subscribed to accomplish the contemplated undertaking; it being understood that if, at the expiration of the aforesaid period, such persons or company be not able to commence and carry out the proposed enterprise, then the Govern ments of the United States and Great Britain shall be free to afford their protection to any other persons or company that shall be prepared to commence and proceed with the construction of the canal in question.

ARTICLE VIII.

The Governments of the United States and Great Britain having not only desired, in entering into this convention, to accomplish a particular object, but also to establish a general principle, they hereby agree to extend their protection, by treaty stipulations, to any other practicable communications, whether by canal or railway, across the isthmus which connects North and South America, and especially to the inter-oceanic communications, should the same prove to be practicable, whether by canal or railway, which are now proposed to be established by the way of Tehuantepec or Panama. In granting, however, their joint protection to any such canals or railways as are by this article specified, it is always understood by the United States and Great Britain that the

parties constructing or owning the same shall impose no other charges or conditions of traffic thereupon than the aforesaid governments shall approve of as just and equitable; and that the same canals or railways, being open to the citizens and subjects of the United States and Great Britain on equal terms, shall also be open on like terms to the citizens and subjects of every other state which is willing to grant thereto such protection as the Uunited States and Great Britain engage to afford.

ARTICLE IX.

The ratifications of this convention shall be exchanged at Washington within six months from this day, or sooner if possible.

In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed this convention, and have hereunto affixed our seals.

Done at Washington, the nineteenth day of April, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty.

JOHN M. CLAYTON.

[L. S.]

HENRY LYTTON BULWER. [L.S

25.-Sir H. L. Bulwer to Lord 'Palmerston.

[Extract.]

WASHINGTON, April 28, 1850. (Received May 14.)

In my previous dispatch of this day I have informed your lordship of my having concluded a treaty with Mr. Clayton respecting the construction of a ship communication between the two oceans of the Atlantic and Pacific, and I have there stated to your lordship that there are some slight differences between the original project transmitted home on the 3d of February and the treaty now concluded.

I have thought it better to explain the nature of these changes, and my reasons for adopting them, in a separate dispatch; and I shall do so, rather according to the manner and time in which they were made, than according to the place in the convention in which they occur.

The first, therefore, I shall refer to is in Article VI, to which are added the words:

And should any differences arise as to right or property over the territory through which the said canal shall pass between the states or governments of Central America, and such differences should in any way impede or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the Governments of Great Britain and the United States will use their good offices to settle such differences in the manner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance which exist between the contracting parties.

This addition, in reconsidering the matter, was deemed, both by myself and Mr. Clayton, an advantage to the treaty, and a sort of guarantee against future unfriendly disputes between the two governments as to the subject referred to.

The second addition agreed to is in Article VII, to which has been added:

And if any persons or company should already have, with any state through which the proposed ship-canal may pass, a contract for the construction of such a canal as that specified in the convention, to the stipulations of which contract neither of the contracting parties in this convention have any just cause to object; and the said persons or company shall, m reover, have made preparations and expended time, money, and trouble on the faith of such contract, it is hereby agreed, that such per

sons or company shall have a priority of claim over every other person, persons, or company, to the protection of the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, and be allowed a year from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this convention for concluding their arrangements, and presenting evidence of sufficient capital subscribed to accomplish the contemplated undertaking, it being understood that if, at the expiration of the aforesaid period, such persons or company be not able to commence and carry out the proposed enterprise, then the Governments of Great Britain and the United States shall be free to afford their protection to any other persons or company that shall be prepared to commence and proceed with the construction of the canal in question.

I should here state to your lordship that, when the treaty was placed under the notice of the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Senate, a gentleman of great weight and of the more importance since he belongs to the dominant party in the chamber of which he is a member, considered that it would only be fair that the two governments should give an open and avowed preference by name to an American company which had first conceived and taken steps to carry out the pro posed undertaking. This I objected to; but I deemed there could be no objection to giving to any company, under certain fair conditions such as are specified, the preference that was sought, although those conditions applied to a company that was American. In this manner a sort of compromise was effected.

The third alteration adopted is in Article VIII, the whole of which article is remodelled.

This alteration, I must say, was the effect of the joint opinion of Mr. Clayton and myself, both thinking that the article, as amended, was better and more clear, referring especially to two lines of communication which seem the most likely to be adopted, and securing thereby a considerable support to the convention in general, many persons being interested in the Panama and Tehuantepec projects.

The only other change which it is worth while remarking upon occurs the first in the body of the treaty, but was the last mooted or adopted. Your lordship will perceive it by casting your eye over Article I, in which a passage is inserted between the words "Central America," which close the second line in the page, down to "nor will Great Britain or the United States take advantage of any," &c., which occurs in the third line from the bottom of the said page, some few words having been left out to admit of the aforesaid passage. The manner in which this change was effected was as follows:

It struck me that the declaration or note mentioned by your lordship bound our government as to its protection over the Mosquitos, but did not bind the United States Government as to its protection over such other states, even Nicaragua, as it might hereafter form an especial alliance with. Moreover, the pledge that we would not do covertly what we had declared we would not do directly, seemed to me a pledge that it would be more suitable and becoming that both parties should take than that one alone should take.

With these views instead of presenting the note, I embodied in the treaty the substance of the declaration given by your lordship to Mr. Lawrence, constructing that declaration so as to apply to any government or people we do or may protect, and also to any government or people that the United States Government do or may protect. Some discussion took place on this matter, but finally it was so arranged.

As the case now stands it is clearly understood that Her Majesty's Government holds by its own opinions already expressed as to Mosquito, and that the United States does not depart from its opinions also already expressed as to the same subject; but the main question of the canal

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