Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1856-01-09
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Fsllsy-eiti=ens of the Senate and

that CONGRESS shall assemble annually on the MS
Monday in December, and 1t has been uSuai lo'
the President to make no communication o,
public character TO the Senate aud Rouse VI ne
representatives. until advised OF their read'"eSS :?
receive it. | have deferred to this usage u"'
the close of the first month OF the session. OUT II"
convictions of duty will not permit me longer to
ros,oona the DISCHARGE If the obligation enjolned
by he constitution upon the President, 'to give
, ,a.. (',,,,rasS inf,rmalion of the state ot the
}Tni,1 ,.4 s.ormend "a their consideration such
,ne.seas as be sha. Jad-o necessary ana expe-
d,eal' ..n,b,;o
r. IS matter %, eaagTa'uittion that the repuoi'c
is t,,pll.,Ity oJvaacicg ia career OF prosperity
and peace
v0xEiGS MISUNDERSTANDING AMERICA
Whilst relations of amity continue to exist be-
tween the United States and all foreign powers,
with some of them grave questions are depending
which may require the consideration OF congress.
OF such questions, the most Important Is tnaI
which has arisen out OF the negotiations win
Coo, Rritain in reference to Central America.
Rv the convention concluded between the two
Governments on the 10Th of April. 1850. both
o,r,ies coyenanted, that ''neither will ever" ''oc
cnpy or fortify, or coonize,or assume or exercise
,pv dominion over, Nicaragua, Costa Rlca, the
Mosouito coast or any part OF Central America
II was the undoubted understanding ot the
limited States in making this treaty, that all the
nresent States of the former republic OF Cen'rai
America. and the entire territory OF each, "oulu
thenceforth enjoy complete independence; ana
that both contracting parties engaged equally anu
IN the same extent, TOR the present aud Tor tue
fnture that ifeither then had any claim ot right
in Central America, such claim, ana all occuPatio
or authority under it, were unreSeFVeuly ieIin
ouished by the stipuations OF the conVeh''ou a"I
that no daminion was thereafter to % eAeIc'Seu
or assumed in any part OF Cen'rai AiNe'"N ~
Great Britain or the United States.
This government consented to restrictions 10
raoard IN reoion of country, wherein we had
speci6c and peculiar interests, only upon the con-
yic,ion that the like restrictions were IN the same
sense obliOatory on Great Britain. But Tor this
understanding of the force and effect Of the con-
vention il would never have been concluded oy
US.
So clear was this understanding on the part OF
the limited States, that in correspondence con
temporaneous with the ratification ot the cOhVen
tion' il was distinctly expressed, that the mutual
covenants of non -occuptiOn were not lnlehdeu "
applv to the British establishment at the balizp.
This qualification is to be aserloed TO the tact'
that in virtue of successive treaties with previous
suvereigns of the country, Great Britain mad 90
tanned concession of the light to cut rnan05any
or dive woods at the Balize, bat with PoSi'iVe eX
elusion of all d1man or sovereignty aud tHuS II
confirms the natural construction and understood
import of the treaty as to all the rest oil Tue feoo
to which the stipulatians applied
1t, however, became apparent, at an early day
after entering upon the discharge OF my PfeSen
rnuctions that Great Britain slll continued IN .n'
exercise or assertion OF large au'"o',S N n", T tL
mart Of Central America commonly called tn
Noson;to eoast- and covering the entire length .
the State of Nicaragua and part ot Costa h'Ia
thar che reoarded the Baze as her absolute 90
main and was gradually extending It's lUm!'S
,bo eypense of the State of Honduras; and ina
She had formally colouized considerable inSu'a
proup known as the Bay Islands, anu belonging
Of right, to that State. c
ali these acts or pretensions Of Great Britain
beinu contrary to the rights OF the o'a'eS ol Oe"
tral America, aud to the manifest TENOR VI nc
stioula,ions with the United States, as understHo
nv This Government, have been made the suoJec
az NEGOTIATION through the American minister
London. | transmit herewith the Instructions
him ON the subject, and the correspondence oe
tween hia and the British Secretary Tor toreig
Affairs. by which you will perceive that the wv
Governments differ widely aud irreconcleaoV a
10 the construction Of the cOayenton,anu i'S ehec
ON their respective relations 10 Cen'rai A'hef'od
maintain unchanged all her previous pretenSlon
-. The Nosouito coast. aud in different parts q
1,.n,r,l America These pretenslons, as 10 IN
N,neor;to cnast are founded on the assumption
,,l;,,c,g relat,un between Great Britain ana IN
sc,,ant ofa tribe OF Indians on that coast, enter
- ,rt, at 4, time when the whole country was
,,..,.s o., .-s.s.,. I'd o., Spain II cannot De sue
oes ..p,,. -,,,r1,cf,ej ,ha,, bg the pnolic law
Fr,oo-.e15 A.ae1,ca 31 ,,AsSble acI OF Sucn IN
t,.as ,r t5.ir- n,s5 &c ss1rs could confer on Urea
B,l.aia ANY political rights.
f,.e,t Hntaln does not alege the assent u
Snain as the origin OF her claims On the MJSqu''
coast She has, on the contrary. by repeated an
successive treaties, renounced aud rellnqdshe.
all pretensions of her own, and recognised The iu
and sovereign rights ofSpain in the most uneqn'
vocal terms Yet these pretensions, So wl'nou
solid foundation in the beginning, and tnus re
pea,edly abured, were, at recent PERIOD rev
we'd by Great Britain against the Cen'fai Amer
can States, the legitimate successors 10 an III, III
ancient Jurisdiction of Spain IN that region ne
were first applied only to dehned part o' III
coast of Nicaragua, afterwards to the whole oi u
Atlantic cuast, and lastly To part 0i the coast
Costa Rica and they are now reasserted to TIN
extent, notwithstanding engagements to the
States.
On the eastern coast Of Nicaragua and Cost
p;c. the interference of Great Britain. thong
,vo,,ed ,t one time in the form ut military occt
o.,;on of the port of San Juan del Norte. then
IL ne,ceful possession of the appropriate author
,;o, rs The Central American States, Is now pres
ented by her as the righttul exercise o' p'o'''
torshiD over the Mosquito tribe ot Indians
But the establishment at the bailze now feao'
inn far bevond its treaty limits into the otate
Honduras. and that of the Bay Islands. 'pperta',
inc of right to the same State, are as dlS'llctl
COLONIAL governments as those ot Jamaica OF Oal
ada. and therefore contrary tO the very iet'er
well as the spirit of the convention win 'he l
States. as it was at the time OF ratification, an
NOW is, understood by this government.
The Interpretation which the British govern
ment, thus in assertion and act. persists IN aScfu
inq to the convention entirely changes It's char
actsr. While it holds US to all our obligations.
;o GREAT measure releases Great Britain trnI
,h,,e which constituted the consideration ot TIL
o,yeroment for entering into the convention.
;mnossible, in my judgment, for the Unite
C,a,es 10 acquiesce in such construction OF III
~o.,iva relations of the two govern menls
Central America.
ia TIA renewed call by this government npo
Ca, Rritain. to abide by, and carry INTO etec
,ha s,;nnlations of the convention according To Il
"Sr;"ap ;,nno,t. by Withdrawing from the posses
sion or c,loniz,ti1n of portions oi 'he NS"'''
Amsr;can States OF Honduras. Nicaragua an
Costa Rca. the British government mas a' .e"9'
replieI. afirniny that the operation OF tue tted'
ia irrespective only, and did not require ".ea
Britain to abandon or contract any possession