M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1856-01-10

between Great Britain a nd remnant
of a tribe Of Indians q IN that coast,
entered into OF time W hen the whole
country was a colonial possession of
Spain. Itcannot be SUI ,cesslully con-
troveued, that, by the public law of
Europe and America, | 10 possible act
Of such Indians or thei r predecessors
could confer on Great Z lritain any pos
liticaI rights, Ia ,.s,I 81. a..s-g,
Great Britain does ~ fat allege the as
sent OF Spain as the origin of her
claims on the Mosquii p coast. She
has, on the contrary, by, Il repeated and
successive treaties, rem o kunced and re-
linquished all pretensitl 1s other own,
and recognized the full sand sovereign.
rights Of Spain in the, 7 most unequivo,
cal terms. Yet these pretensions, SO
without solid foundati n in the begin.
ming, aud thus repeated Y abjured, were,
at recent period, revived by Great
| Britain against the Ce htral American
States, the legitimate successors to all
| .he ancient iurisdtctio OF Spain in
| that region, They W eree frst applied
only TO defined part ol I th,, coast of
Nicaragua, afterwards o tile whole Of
| its Atlantic coast, ancl lasd y to part
4 Of the coast Of Costa R.ica, and they
are now reasserted to tn is extent, not
withstandiug engagements to the Uni
ted States. t.aia5s3 . smea
On the eastern coast of Nicaragua
and Costa Rica, the Interference OF
Great Britain, though exerIed at one
time in the form 'ot mi htary occupa-
ton OF the port OF San 'uan del Norte,
then in the peaceful po' session of the
, appropriate authorities 'f the Central
American States, is no, presented by
her as .he rightiul exerc ise CT protec>
!, lorship over the Mosq' tito tribe OF In.
'ldls,ns' .,,.t,;.hoa n, a. ,hs Pslize,
I, pII ~ ~ ok;, beyond its treaty limits
into the State Of IA h.oncuras, anu ...-. 49,
of the Bay Islands. ''ppertainihg oi
> righ. to the same State, are as distinct
" colonia. governments as those Of ia
& maica or Canada, and therefore con.
trary 20 the very lette { as the spiri: Of
convention with the United States, as
! it was at the time Of ratification, and
now is understood b, I this government.
. The Interpretation j which the Brit
: ish Government, thl IS 10 assertion and
;. act, presists in ascri )ing to the conVen-
i lion, entirely chang es its character
= While il holds US t , our obligations, 1t
I, in great measure elsaseS Great Brit
!, ain rom those, VII ich constituted the
. tcansieesstion OF tlllis GoyetnmenL.lor
: : entering into illece invention. ttigIm'
: or possible, in my jut lgment, Tor The Uni
= led States to acqu iesce in such con-
= sruction Of the re ,spective relations oi
the two Goyernr ients to Central Amer
70 lea.
J ,d To renewed call by this Govern
- ment upon Gre; Il Britain, to abide by,
70 - and carry into ,dect, the stipGlatlons oI
=, the convention according to lis obvi-
~ 81 ous import, by Withdrawing from the
- possessions or colonization Of portions
y, OF the Central American States o.
= Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica
~ the British Government has at lengti
~ - replied, aflirming that the operation o
~ the treaty is pro 6pective only, and die
II il not require Gre at britain to abandon
~ :" or contract any posse ssions held by he
70 in Central Am,,lica at@ date OF 1T
,s. conclusion. y '"
u u The reply substitutes partial issue
:. - in the place OF the general one present
=, ed by the Uni Ted States. The Bri!isI
- government passes over the question o
~ - the rights OF Great Britain, real o.
~ ~ supposed, in Central America, ard as
~ sunies that she had such rights at tht
w. ~ date of the treaty, and that these rights
no comprehentled the protectorsaip OF the
I'D Mo!iauito indians, the EXTENDED ,u.is
ol die lion and limits OF ts.,e Balize, ant
ms the colony OF the Bay Islands, an,
t! t!iereupon proceeds by implication t
an inier: ...ast, ii the stipulationS Of tn
is> treaty te merely future in effect, Grea
!, Britain may still continue 10 hold th
,he contested portions OF Central America
,;,y The United States cannot admit eth
-;cs -3 er the inference or the premises. "
as, steadily deny, that, at the date OF tn
,he treaty, Great Britain had any posses
,sts sions there, other than the limited an
aS peculiar establishment at the Baliz'
al and maintain that, if she had any, the
.nse were surrendered by the convention.
she This government, recognizing tn
,bIe obligations of the treaty, has of cours
iss desired to see it executed in good fat
.hal by both parties, and in the discussion
therefore, BIAS not looked TO rights
reat which we might assert, independent
of OF the treaty; in consideration of OF
to geographical position and of other Gil
ons cumstances, which create for US rela
ood tlons to the Central American State
,de different from those OF any governmf
the Of Europe, ~ t-o''e'' @.te i4 Z
f@ii The British Government, in its "a
toi communication, although well kno,
ION. ing the views OF the United States, ST
fish declares that j, sees no reason why