Admiral Stephenson to the Nicaraguan Government. [From the Pall Mall Gazette, April 25, 1895.] I have received instructions from Her Majesty's Government to hand you the accompanying dispatch from Lord Kimberley, Her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, and I have the honor to present to your excellency Commander Stokes, of H. M. S. Royal Arthur, who is the bearer of the dispatch, together with a letter and a procla mation from me. I have the honor to inform your excellency that unless I receive a reply within three days' date containing the full compliance of the Nicaraguan Government with the demands contained in Lord Kimberley's dispatch, or in the event of an answer being received within the time fixed, if that answer should be unsatisfactory, I shall at once land an armed force and take military possession of Corinto by occupying the custom-house and other Government buildings, and appointing Capt. Frederick Percival Trench governor of the port. The lives, private property, and trade of all foreigners will be respected, but, in the event of any resistance or disturbance arising, I shall use the force at my disposal to maintain order. A copy of the accompanying proclamation will be issued to each official in Cocrino, both Nicaraguan and foreign, on my taking possession of the place. PROCLAMATION. Whereas the Nicaraguan Government having unlawfully seized the persons of Her Britannic Majesty's vice-consul at Bluefields, together with some twenty British subjects, and has either confined them in the town of Managua or expelled them from Nicaraguan territory, I have in consequence received orders from Her Majesty's Government to occupy Corinto, and to seize all vessels carrying the Nicaraguan flag, and to hold the same until such time as the Nicaraguan Government shall have complied with the demands of the British Government. Be it known that during the occupation of Corinto the lives, property, and trade of all will be respected, and the force now landed will occupy only the Government buildings. In the event, however, of any resistance or disturbance arising, I shall be compelled to use the means at my disposal to maintain order. I have constituted Capt. Frederick Percival Trench, of H. M. S. Royal Arthur, governor of the port. H. L. STEPHENSON, Rear-Admiral. Mr. Baker to Mr. Gresham. [Telegram.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES. San Jose, April 27, 1895. The Nicaraguan minister for foreign affairs informs me that the Nicaraguan Government notified British admiral that it can not accept ultimatum of England. BAKER. Mr. Baker to Mr. Gresham. [Telegram.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, San Jose, April 27, 1895. The Nicaraguan Government asked Central American Governments to protest against action of England. President of Costa Rica declined, but most generously proposed to contribute fifth of the indemnity. The Nicaraguan Republic refused paying the indemnity. British occupied Corinto this morning. Nicaragua fortifying San Juan del Sur; are moving large number of soldiers hence. BAKER. Mr. Baker to Mr. Gresham. [Telegram.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, After the British occupied Corinto, 27th, town deserted by natives. The Nicaraguan Government stopped railway communication with that port. Pacific Mail steamers have been ordered not to touch there, thus completely isolating town. British seized Government building and archives. Hoisted British flag at that place. BAKER. SIR: Your dispatch No. 506, dated at San Jose, Costa Rica, April 24, 1895, has been received. It communicates copy of a telegram addressed to you on the preceding day by the Nicaraguan secretary of foreign relations in regard to the indemnity claimed by Great Britain for the arrest and expulsion of British subjects from Nicaraguan territory without trial. Contrary to your supposition, a copy of that telegram was not communicated to me by the Nicaraguan minister here. The matter of the British demand has been before the Department in conference with the Nicaraguan minister, and in view of reports from the ambassador at London, but on account of your absence from Nicaragua, it has not been found advisable or practicable to communicate with that Government through you. I am, etc., EDWIN F. UHL, Acting Secretary. No. 531.] Mr. Baker to Mr. Uhl. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, San Jose, June 3, 1895. (Received June 15.) SIR: As soon as I learned of the ultimatum issued by England against Nicaragua in the matter of the expulsion of Mr. Hatch I promptly sent my clerk to Managua for the purpose of keeping me well informed of all that might occur there. I also arranged with the minister for foreign affairs of Nicaragua to keep me posted in an official way of all passing events. In this way I was kept informed daily of what transpired. The first impulse of the Nicaraguan Government was to resist the landing of the British marines, on advices from their own sources of information that the United States would uphold them in this attitude. As the prospect for interference on the part of the United States faded away, the idea of having the other four Central American Governments join in a solemn protest against the action of England took form. The Government of Honduras invited her sister Republics to join her in such a protest. Salvador consented. Costa Rica replied that as the protest could not be made effective by the powers signing she thought a good substitute for that plan would be to make up a purse and promptly pay the indemnity before the time set by England for landing at Corinto should expire. Being fully alive to the humiliation of the landing of British troops upon Central American soil under the circumstances, Costa Rica was willing to bear the one-fifth portion of the burden in money if the remaining Governments would join. This proposition was not accepted. Honduras sent a minister to Nicaragua, who acted as a friend between that Government and Great Britain in bringing about an understanding by which the former agreed to pay the indemnity in London within fifteen days after the marines were withdrawn from land and the departure of the British ships from Nicaraguan ports. Both Guatemala and Salvador sent ministers to Nicaragua with instructions to offer their friendly offices, but they arrived after a settlement had been concluded. I have, etc., LEWIS BAKER. INCORPORATION OF THE MOSQUITO TERRITORY INTO NICA No. 528.] RAGUA. Mr. Baker to Mr. Uhl. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, San Jose, June 3, 1895. (Received June 15.) SIR: By a circular received from the minister of foreign affairs of Nicaragua, I am informed that the National Legislative Assembly of that country, in session on the 27th of February, 1895, approved the decree of the Mosquito convention of November 20, 1894,' incorporating that territory into the Republic of Nicaragua. A copy of the latter decree was transmitted to the Department in my dispatch, No. 458, of January 15, 1895. I have, etc., LEWIS BAKER. Printed in Foreign Relations, 1894; Appendix 1, page 361. DEATH OF CATARINO E. GARZA. Mr. Baker to Mr. Gresham. No. 490.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to report the death of Catarino E. Garza, the notorious Mexican revolutionist and outlaw, who for a long time operated on the northern border of Mexico along the Rio Grande.' Garza has for some time past been residing in Costa Rica, but recently left Limon for San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua. At that place he gathered around him some thirty men, chiefly Colombian exiles, and secured money and a quantity of small arms. A small sailing craft was chartered and the party embarked on the 2d instant, landing the following day at Cahuita, Costa Rica, 35 miles south of Port Limon. Here he took quarters with an American named Reynolds and awaited the expected arrival of the Colombian exiles from the interior. In this, however, he was disappointed, as this Government immediately stopped communication with Port Cahuita and dispatched a body of soldiers by land to capture the revolutionists, the minister of war himself going as far as Limon. On the 8th instant Garza received warning of the approach of Costa Rican troops, and with 60 followers embarked in two small crafts for Bocas del Toro, Colombia. Upon arriving at that point the party at once attacked the barracks, but were defeated; Garza and eleven followers, including Dr. Pereira Castro, second in command, and a General Mareira, were killed, the remainder of the party being taken prisoners by the Colombian authorities. I have, etc., LEWIS BAKER. 'See Foreign Relations, 1893. PERU. CLAIMS OF THE HYDROGRAPHIC COMMISSION OF THE AMAZON.1 No. 84.] Mr. Evarts to Mr. Gibbs. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I inclose herewith a copy of a letter of C. G. Lee, esq., attorney for Mr. Thomas W. Sparrow, together with a copy of certain accompanying papers in relation to a claim of Mr. Sparrow against the Government of Peru. It appears from these papers and documents that Mr. Sparrow entered into a contract with the Peruvian Government on the 1st of April, 1872, to serve for three years as a civil engineer; that the contract made by its agent, Mr. Tucker, was assented to by the Government, and Mr. Sparrow assigned to duty on the Hydrographic Commission of the Amazon, and that he served in that capacity up to the time of the dissolution of the commission, which is alleged to have occurred on the 15th of April of the present year (1877). It further appears that his compensation was fixed at the rate of 1,440 soles per annum, payable monthly, with an annuity of 90 soles per month for such time as he might be on duty in New York, where, as it appears, the duties of his position sometimes had to be performed; and that on the 31st of October last (1876) the agents of Peru in New York, Messrs. Hobson, Hurtado & Co., from whom Mr. Sparrow had previously been in the habit of receiving his pay, declined to make further payments on account of Peru, and so notified the claimant. At that time there seems to have been due him $1,408.26, this amount having been audited and directed to be paid by J. Pardo de Tela, the officer of the Peruvian Government charged with such duties. The amount, however, has not, as Mr. Sparrow alleges, yet been paid. In addition to this amount, Mr. Sparrow claims for five and a half months' salary, at the rate of $210 per month, from the 18th of November, 1876, to the 15th of April, 1877, the date when the Hydrographic Commission was dissolved and his services ended, making $1,155, which, with the sum due October 31 ($1,408.26), makes the amount of his claim $2,563.26. It is true that this claim arises out of a contract voluntarily entered into by Mr. Sparrow, and consequently belongs to that class of claims regarding which this Government does not as a rule interfere diplomatically, claimants in such cases being remitted to the remedies provided by the laws of the country with whose Government or citizens the contract is made and where it is to be executed. In the present case, however, the contract of Mr. Sparrow is directly with the Government of Peru, and it may be that that Government does not hold itself amenable to the suits of private individuals in its own tribunals. In such case, the claimant would be without legal remedy, as no mode of redress is provided for in the contract, either by arbitration or 1 Reprinted from Senate Document No. 125, Fifty-fourth Congress, first session. 2 Not printed. |