Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-01-08
THE NICARAUGUAN TREATY.
Criticisms Against It-Few Advantages
to this Country.


| tone of public opinion in Washington seems
to favor the Nicaraguan treaty. there is an
| unmstakable undertone against it. This has
| been gaming strength of late, and the criti-
| csms which one hears about it, in conversa-
| tion with public men, rest not so much upon
its alleged violation of the Clayton-Bulwer
convention as upon the terms of the treaty it
self.
There appears to be disposition on the
| Democratic side to delay the consid-
GRAFTON of the treaty until after the dissOlu-
| tion of the present Congress. 1t is urged in
| some quarters that it might be well for the
Democratic party, about TO come into power,
to reserve to itself the glory of ratifying the
treaty, but thls-surely l. the extreme of child
lshness. The Democratic party, If its Sena-
tors now help to ratify the treaty, will have
the greater glory of building the canal. If it
trlt1es and delays now the government of Mic
aragua may not some months hence be in the
| humor to make treaty with us. If it is
promptly ratified the next administration can
begin ana, II II works energetlcally, can COM
plete the construction of the canal, which
will be a work of historic renown and impor-
tance enough for any administration,
ON THE OTHER HAND 1T IS URGED
that the treaty in the first place is an absolute
violation of the first paragraph of the Clay
tom Bulwer treaty, which specially stipulates
that neither England nor this country shall
seek to acquire territory in Central America.
The State Department holds that England
has already violated the treaty by her settle
ment in British Honduras, and her Occupa-
tion OF small island near by for the purrose
Of fortifcatOn. Yet in note to the Clayto
Bulwer treaty these points of occupa-
ton are specially permitted, so that
the charge that England has violated
Its treaty is false. The ratification of
the Nicaragua treaty would, therefore, be an
abrupt term lation of a treaty with friendly
power without notice, although that treaty
has been continued for years and has been
carefully observed by England. 1t is probable
that England might tn "a q
ton of this treaty. The effect of Its being set
aside would be to leave her free to enter into
any colonization scheme she might see ft to
make IN central America, and would at once
make endless complications for this govern
ment. England in the past has sgnified
Willingness to permit certain notifications of
the Clayton-BUlwer treaty.
AN OBJECTION MUCH COMMENTED ON
And ear nestly presented, is that the United
States are to furnish all the money and to give
one-third of the net revenue of the canal to
Nicaragua. Considering the enormous adj
vantages that would accrue to Nicaragua
from the construction of the canal, the I'M
mense Importance it would be to her develop
ment, it seems rather lard, as one expresses
it. to pay her heavy sum of money for the
privilege of helping her. Another grave OBJ
lection, stated by diplomatlst of experience,
is the MODE of its management care and pro-
lection alter it shall be built, management
which Is to include a railway line and tele-
graph running along side the canal.
Six men, three of whom shall be appointed
by Nicaragua and three by the United States,
are to be entrusted with the whole control of
this vast work, and the only superiority in
power which the United States has is that
IN case OF tie, the presiding officer shall have
an extra vote, but the three Nicaragua man
ayers may, with one American manager, at
any time, take the ''bltS in their teeth and
do as they please. "This board" in the Ian
guage of the treaty, ''shall be entrusted with
the general executive management of the
canal and its accessories, including the rail-
way and telegraph lines, and of all the matters
relating TO the maintenance and improve
menC thereon, shall tX tolls and provide rates
and regulations for the management thereof"
WHEN ONE COMES TO CONSIDER THE
TREATY
itself, the only thing about it that is clear is
the amount of money that is TO be paid to the
Nlcaraguan Government 81, ,000,0 900 to be paid
outright for the land upon the right of way.
But in addition to this the United States Will
be called upon to pay the claim of all Occu-
pants of the land themselves. There is no
means of knowing how many these are, but
from the speculative character OF the men
back of the treaty it fair to suppose that
every foot of the ground conceded Is already
IN the hands of private holders, who Will have
to be handsomely paid. Beyond this the gov
ernment has still further payments TO make
before foot of the canal could be dug. The
government will be called upon to pay the
claims of Menocal and his predecessor for the
amount OF money expended by them in
their failures. On top of all these
enormous concessions the Nicaraguan
Government is TO have one third
Of the net proceeds of the canal 1t
will reap great benefits from the canal Its
government would become the centre, the
pivotal point of great trade. Nicaragua
could well afford to pay large sums for the
privilege OF having the canal built through it.
1t is believed that any private company could
obtain concessions without the expenditure
Of a dollar IN case the present treaty fails.
The aDsurdity Of its provisions is likened
unto propOsltlOrs coming from a proprietor
of a great territory of wild and undeveloped
land to railroad company, demanding great
sums from the railroad for the privilege of
building line through the tract SO as to give
what was worthless high value; then on the
top of that to ask to have all the previous
contractors who had failed in building road
TO be PAID, and then the owner of the land to
nave third interest in the net receipts of the
road after its completion.
ONE OLD RAILWAY CONTRACTOR PUTS
HIS FINGER
in another provision of the treaty which NAV
give rise to great abuse. 1t is this: Nicaragua
grants the right to take any materials needed
for the construction and use of the canal, its
ports, dependencies and equipments bus
when these materials are taken from private
lands along the line they are to be paid for
but any property real estate held by pri-
yate individuals or corporations, taken for the
construction of the canal, shall be paid for by
The United States, the price to be settled bv
an appraisement fixed by assessors, one Of
whom shall be appointed by the President of
the United States, one by the President of
anu IUey 10 CnOOSe q gnlrQ. The
railway contractor mentioned says that it
will be surprising to see how much of the land
along the canal will be found to belong to pri-
vate persons or corporations, and his surprise
VIII De greatly increased when he finds ont
the great price which real estate in Nicaragua
along the line of future canal is sure to
bring.
Then the same contractor SAYS that the sur
prise at the value of land will he nothing to
that which will attend the value placed on
the contract with f. A. PeIlas, relating to
at QVJior ~ foIn,
out OF the way by another appraisement un-
der the same conditions, so that whe ther it
be on land or on water. the obstacles are to
be removed at the expense of the United
states, the amount to BE- paid to be determin-
ed by arbitrations held in Nicaragua.
FINALLY AN OLD OFFICER OF THE TREAS
URY DEPARTMENT,
long accustomed to the accurate accountable
ity demandedby the Auditors and Controllers
OF the Treasury for every dollar of the public
money expended, is shocked to find that there
IS no system OF vouching provided for in this
treaty; that the accounts are not to be aud
tied, and that perhaps hundreds of millions Of
dollars may be expended with no power re-
served to Congress to do anything but appro-
pirate it. In the history of the Federal Gov
ernment, this old Treasury officer says, there
is no precedent for such a course, and no
principle that would justify it. A man Of
much experience in international law gave a
full exposition of the bearings Of this treaty
upon the diplomatic interests of the United
States. interests not merely of form, but in
terests which affect the commercial deyelop-
ment and public honor of this country.
Expenses Paid at New Orleans.
A Tar