The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1857-12-16

following language 4" The two contract.
ing parties do hereby mutually engage TO
recoe Mise and respect ,he i-lavds of hu.
atan, Bonaoo, Utila, Bsr srbaret,s, Helena
md Mort. situated 10 the Bay of Hon.
duras, and off the coast Of the republic
pf Houdoras as under the sovereignty
and as part Of the said republic Of
Honduras" ..rt... j. l..V AU.
Great Britain rejecfed this amsnd.
mcnt, assigning as the only reason that
the rsti6catious Of the convention uf the
9th August. 1856, between her and
Honduras bad not been "exchah ee,i ow.
ing to the hesitation IF that gov rsmrut
Had this been done, it 10 stated ina, her
Majesty's government would have had
little difficulty 10 agreeing to the modi
fca,ion proposed by the Senate. which
then would lave had in eHsot the same
signihoatioD as the origiusl wording.
Whether this would bavs been the effect
whether the mere circumstances of the
exchange of the rati6catiops Of the
British convention With Honduras prior
in point Of time to the ratification Il
our treaty with Great Britain would. In
effoct," hsv" had 'the same Specification
as the original wording" aud thus have
nullified the amendment Of the Senate,
may we'll be doubted It lie, perhaps,
fortunate that the question has never
arisen ..
The British government, imm ediatsly
after rejecting the treaty as amended,
| proposed I, enter into new treaty with
the United States similar 10 all respects
to the treaty which they had just refused
to ra,ify if the United States would
consent to add to the Seuate's clear and
unqualified recognition of the sovereign.
ty of Honduras over tho Bay Islands
the following conditional stipulation
Whenever ard so soon as the Repuklis
Of Honduras shall bsve concluded and
ratified treaty with Great Britain, BY
which GrAst Britain shall have cedsd,
AID the Republic Of Honduras, shall
have accepted. the islands. subject to the
provisions aud conditions contained in
such treaty" ...t-i .,0.,t. ...,
This proposition was, Of course, re-.
jected After the Senate tad rufusei
tn recognise the British convention with
Honduras of the 9th August, 1856,
with full kn wledge Of its contents, it
was impossible for me, necessarily iguo.
rant of the provisions and cooditiops"
which might be con niaiped in future
convention between the same parties, to
sanction them 10 advance l4 10 r...,
The fact is that when two nations like
Grea, B,itain aud the United States,
mutually desirous, as they are, and
trust ever may be, of maintaining tia
most friendly relations with each other
have unfortunately concluded treaty
which they updcrsts,d IN senses directly
opposite the wisest course is to abrogats
such treaty By mutual consent. and to
Commence anew. Had this been doDs
promptly all dificulries in Central A.
:nerca would most probably er. this
have been adjusted to tho satisfaction
Of both parties The line speut 10 dis.
cnssine the meaning It the Clayton and
Bulwer treaty would have been devoted
to th's prsiseworthy purpose. and tho
task would have been mNre easily seoom
plished because the interest Of the i've
countries in Central Am"rien 10 idend.
cal being confined to secu irg safe trans
sits over all the routes acro,s the I,th-
mus.
Whilst entertaining these sentiments,
l shall. nevertheless, not refuse so oop-
tribute to anv reasonable sdjnH meut Of
the Central American questions uhich
is not practically inconsistent with ths
American Interpretation Of the treaty.
Osertures for this purpose have been rs.
Gently made by the British gover, msn,,
in friendly spirit, which cordially re-.
ciprorate but whether this renewed If.
fort will result in success I am not yet
prepared to express an opinion. A brief
period will determine ri-i.
With France our ancient relations Of
friendship still continue to exist. The
French government have in several rs.
cent instances, which need not be emu
morsted, eviuced spirit of good will
aud kindness towards our country which
heartily rsciprocate. I, is notwith.
standing much TO be regretted that two
nations whose productions are Of such
character as to invite the most extensive
exchanges and freest commercial inter.
course, should continue to enforce an
cient and obsolete restrictions Of trads
against each other Our commercial
treaty with France is in this re- pect an
6xccptlOu iTou OtI Icdtl6o WIN dil Otu.
er commercial nations. II jealously
levies discrimina ling duties both 90 ton.
mage and on articles, the growth, produce,
or manufacture Of the one country, when
arriving in vessels -elonging to the 9th.
or.
More than forty years ago, on the 3d
of March. 1915 Congress passed an act
offering 10 ull nations to admit their yes.
sells laden with their national produe.
tious in the ports OF th United States
uprn the same terms with our own va.
sells. provided they would rssi prosste te
us similar advantages. This ast con.
6ned the reciprosity to the productions
Of the respective foreign nations who
might cutter into the proposed arrange
ment with the Uniied Stsres The sct
of May "a ls2s, removed tbi. restric.
tion. and of ed SIMILAR reciprocity to
all such vessels without refe-rnse TO the
origin of their cargoes Uoon these
principles our cOmmercisl treaties aud