No. 410.
Mr. Biddle to Mr. Fish.
Legation of
the United States,
San
Salvador, June 29, 1872.
(Received August 1.)
No. 61.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for
your information and my guidance, a copy and translation of a note dated
the 25th instant, addressed to me by the minister of foreign relations,
and of my reply thereto, relative to an alleged violation, by partisans
of ex-President Medina, in Honduras, of the neutrality of the
interoceanic railway, as guaranteed on the part of the United States by
the treaty with that republic of July 4, 1864.
The occasion seemed proper for expression of the views of the Government
of the United States upon the subject, as conveyed to my predecessor in
your dispatches Nos. 25, 30, and 39, the railway being yet in its
inception, and the time of conclusion uncertain. 1 therefore embodied
them in my answer to Señor Arbizu. As a question might arise as to the
facts constituting a breach of the neutrality guaranteed, supposing the
treaty provisions to have become initiate, I have written to the United
States minister resident at Tegucigalpa, as per inclosure. I would also
request your attention to the proclamation of peace with Honduras, by
“the vice-president of Salvador exercising the executive power,”
transmitted in my previous dispatch. As the war is thus officially
declared concluded by this state, any future interruption of the railway
by factions in Honduras would seem rather to be the concern of the
latter republic exclusively.
I am, &c.,
Mr. Arbizu to
Mr. Biddle.
[Translation.]
Ministry of Foreign Relations of Salvador,
San Salvador, June 25, 1872.
Mr. Minister: Information has reached the
ministry under my direction that the ex-President of Honduras, Don
Jose Maria Medina, has occupied the castle of Omoa, and has now in
his use the available portion of the railway in operation in that
republic.
It is of public notoriety, Mr. Minister, that General Don Jose’ Maria
Medina has ceased to exercise the executive power in Honduras which
is proven by the fact that the territory of that republic has
submitted to the authority of a provisional government. But apart
from this, the neutrality of the inter-oceanic railway of Honduras
is
[Page 540]
effectively guaranteed
by the treaty concluded between the government of that republic and
that of the United States, as that legation informed this ministry
by dispatch of the 20th of February of the past year. The acts of
General Medina, to which I have referred, being therefore
antagonistic to the neutrality which, on account of the immense
advantages of the work, the Government of the United States has
guaranteed, I have the honor to present it to the knowledge of that
legation, so that by observing the provisions of the treaty to which
I have favorably referred, it may not be permitted that the railway
shall be at the service of the partisans of the ex-President of
Honduras, to whom it was not allowed to violate that neutrality,
even when he united in himself the character of representative of a
regular and recognized government.
With every consideration I have the honor to subscribe myself,
Your obedient servant,
[Inclosure 2.]
Mr. Biddle to Mr.
Arbizu.
Legation ok the United States,
San Salvador, June 26, 1872.
Señor Minister: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 25th instant, informing
me that the ex-President of Honduras had occupied the castle of
Omoa, and was using the available portion of the interoceanic
railway of Honduras in derogation of the guarantee of neutrality
made by the United States in its treaty with that republic of the
4th of July, 1864.
You allude to a communication addressed to your ministry by my
predecessor, dated the 20th February, 1871, and conclude by
presenting the case to my notice in order that the partisans of a
defeated dynasty may not be permitted to violate that neutrality
which was sustained when the ex-President was the representative of
a regular and recognized government. In reply, I have the honor to
state that at the earliest opportunity I will transmit a copy of
your communication to my Government for its information and my
guidance, and will also correspond with the United States minister
resident to Honduras upon the subject. As to the extent of the
obligation assumed by | the Government of the United States in the
fourteenth article of its treaty with Honduras of 1864, relative to
the guarantee of a railway across that republic, I am advised that
it has always been understood in the United States 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, the Government of the United States cannot until then
properly be called upon to interpose the treaty. Under it the
obligation of the United States may be summarily stated as a bargain
to protect the railway when completed against occupation or
obstruction, not only by a foreign power, but of Honduras itself,
and to abstain ourselves from such occupation or obstruction. Any
other construction would require the United States to protect the
road from its inception to conclusion, and no such construction
seems warranted by the words of the instrument.
Renewing to you, Señor Minister, the assurances of my highest
consideration,
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 3.]
Mr. Biddle to Mr.
Baxter.
Legation of the United States,
San Salvador, June 26, 1872.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit to you
herewith, for your information, a copy of a note dated the 25th
instant, received by me from the minister of foreign relations of
Salvador, relative to alleged violations of the neutrality of the
interoceanic railway in Honduras by the partisans of General
Medina.
I have communicated with the Department of State upon the subject,
and now present it to your attention, although the unfinished
condition of the road seems to absolve the United States from
responsibility under the guarantee of 1864.
I am, &c.,
