New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-02-01

treaty. of 1850, explanations passed oet"een 'o y.
.;.,a!ys vhcR excepted from its operation me
!. p:,;.h s,ttIsment in Honduras, commonly caned
% pt;sb H.nduras as distinct from the State OF non
=. 49,. a,d the small islands in the neighoorhood Oh
" that settlement, which may be known as ~ DC
90 tendencies" and il was declared that me TIE -
:. Rat serlsment and those islands was en
:. nv the treaty, without denying, or afnni,
ing, or neddlng in any way WIN me saI Ih
Crest Britain now insists on the sarstoon RIVER "ncn
: Ear south of the Sibunl the border OF the bisn
..,tms,, Of the Bahze while, by the treaty OF i7eo'
tle Sbu, expressly defined az its proper boundary
and she insists moreover, on exclusive sovereignty
over that district while, by that treaty, her
il merely subordinate one, without an! J,.
doninioir whatever By this extended and aosoiute
occupati.n Great Britain cover proposed passage
across ths Istkmus through the state OF ffoHauas'
and also las great power to obstruct even tne No
qua route The United States, IN view OF lee az
on of n. Baze district from the treaty OF $500 40
not insist now on her abandoning the Bahze out tney
insist thu he shall withdraw from the district she mas
usurped living between the Sibun and the Sarstotn,
and confne herself within the stipulated pouh9anes
Of the Balize, while they are content 10 leave
COR further discussion the examination OF her
pretensi,ns TO absolute sovereignty WIN
IN that district Lord Clarendon sustains the british
claim by drawing in the fact that the nted State IN
ls4l sent Consul 10 reside at the Belize, who re-
ceived IL exeouator from the British Government
But Baize is situated north of the Sibun, and within
the prner limits of British Honduras. The acs OF
sendinga Consul to reside there IL no
| hevondthose boundaries. Secondly, the appointment
OF Colsul is only a commercial not POLITICAL trans
action Lord Clarendon further sustans these usurp-
atoms ty alleging that the treaty OF l.'o was ao, nJ
gated /, 1915 by war between Great Britain anu
Spain t which time the BaIze settlement had been
already extended TO the Sarstown. but treat
Britain was during that war as wei as be-
fore it occupying the Balize, IN suooruination
the S,anish title She did not effect nor even al
l. o. DANCE in the nature or extent OF her posses
sions then. When peace was restored she maze no
treaty d boundaries and took no political stlpuiations
whatever but on the contrary, entered INTO treaty
which expressly revived all formerly existing CONNER
cia treaties TO which class the Treaty Of 1885, 20 far
as the Baize district or settlement was concerned,
manfeslv belonged. Great Britain continued 10 act
on this ground until the question OF nterocesnc pas
aoes across the Isthmus arose. In 1917 the British
Parliament passed law entitled An Act Tor the
more effectual punishment of murders and man
slaucbters committed in places not within his Maes-
tvs dominions" The preamble is in these words:
Wbereas srevous murders and manslaughteD have been
committed the settlement in the Bay of Honduras IN South
in the ssion and within the protection Of his Majesty but
NOT within the territory and dominion OF his Majesty by persons
resicing within that settlement
Parliament amended this statute in 1919 by another,
which reaffined that Baze was not within the terri
tories and dominons OF Great Britain. lhave Already
shown that in ls26 Great Britain, III recognizing the
ndependence of Mexico, stipulated tor her settlement
NJ the Baze the privileges granted by the treaty with
Span of 1856. Such is the ananswerabe argument Tor
the American position in regard to the Balize. IL re-
mains now to speak of the Colony OF She Bay Islands
I'm Central America, not in British Honduras, IN the
Caribbean Sea- about thirty-ive miles from the pOt
Of TrNo in the State of Honduras, and four hundred
miles distant from the Baze lies the Island OF Kua-
tan, spacious fertile, beautiful, and easily susceptible
of defense Near TO il the relatively smaller but
vet considerable Islands of B0nacca, Fula, Barbaret,
Helen, and Moerat The Islands of Ruatan and Bon
acca are said by British geographer to be, by reason
of Their fine harbors, good SOILS fine air and abundant
animal as well their commanding grounds, proven
bialy known in that part of the world as the garden
of the West Indies the key to Spanish America, and
a new Gibraltar. On the 18th OF July 1850, thirteen
DAYS after the conclusion of the treaty OF 1e5O,
n PROCLAMATION wass issued by the British Govern
ment constituting the islands before named colony,
under the name of the Colony OF the Bay Islands.
The United States insist that Great Britain shall dis
continue this new colony. Great Britain refuses and
alleges that the colony is within the Balze settlement,
or British Honduras, and so Is excepted from the
treaty. On the contrary, the Islands when are ex-
cepted are described in the exception as small Islands
In the neighborhood of the Balize. Not only are
there such small islands in that place, but they are
expressly described and assigned to the balize,
in the treaty of 1856, while the Bay Islands
are neither small islands they situated IN the
neghborhood of the Baize, but, the contrary they
are Islands of considerable magnitude and of historic
importance. The treaty Of 1886 assigns them to the
"Spanish Continent, and expressly excludes Great
Britain from them. Great Britain shows no pretense
of title or even OF continued occupancy of hen Spain
held them until the revolution i'll Central America.
The state of Honduras assumed possession, and
placed flag Ruatan, in 1929. Great Britain
caused that flag to be suppanted by her own in 1885,
but this was Immediately after lowered, and the Dag
of Honduras was restored to its place. IL Is unim-
porant to follow this petty contention further What
ever pretensODs Great Britain may have ever before
made to the Bay Islands, they were all solemnly and
forever relinquirhed and abandoned by her in the
treaty of 1850. | have thus reached the conclusion
that the American positions just and the American
demands are right The final question is practical
one: What ought the United States now to dol
NV ,iuu at - n q
which affect the question. regret that in any case
it involves possibility of war. Although l believe
war sometimes iustihable, | regard it always
nevertheless as a calamity and evil. | do
not agree with either those who suppose it contrib
utos TO national prosperity, or those who regard II
as a sautary discipline of states. should, there
fore, deeply deplOre any war with any nation, aud
than any other war with Great Bntain
That Power 10 longer arms alone. Its wealth and in
fuence easily allies. Nor in such contest
should we be unaded. The adjacent American States
at least, would cooperate with Us. II would therefore
be a general war, and consequently more extensively
injurious and widely demOralizing than any other in
which we could be engaged. II would, moreover, re-
new and practically perpetuste an alienation between
two fraternal States whose common guidance lonly
secured through their concord the advancing nations
largely depend. | dcprecate a war, moreover, be
cause be avoided. unles there shall be fault
both sides, or side; aud therefore in one sense
il would be an unnecessary co; ict. Notwithstanding
the occasional occurrence of msapprehcnsions and IT.
ritations the world yet wide enough for both nations
and for all nations We are the center of system
an American one; Great Britain is the center of
other-a European Almost in spite of ourselves,
We are steadily extending and increasing control
over these continents. Notwithstanding her .enacty
she is constantly losing her dominion here. This
is within the order of nature II was for three hun
cred years the business of European nations to colon
ize, discipline and educate American nations Ii Is
now the business of those nations to govern them
selves. The decline OF European power here praeti.
caly began with the fall of Canada of the control
of France in 1863. IL has steadily continued until
now only some reEcs Possessing little vitality. re-