The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-03-07

which Is hereabouts called by those who
ought to know, Mosquito, pronounced mos
kee-shez-ah, the accent on the second syl-
'lable)-has occupied the attention of
European nations, off and on, since away
back in the 18th century. 1t seems remark
able that the government of Her Brittanic
Majesty, upon whose vast possessions "the
sun never SETS" should show so much more
interest in this insignificant bit of unhealthy
coast in an out-of- the-way corner Of Amer
lea, than do the Americans themselves; but
such, nevertheless, has long been the case.
The contested strip of Nicaragua's terri
tory, which is only about 40 miles wide,
was under the alleged protection of Great
Britain, from 1855 to 1S50-when that rather
un-American document, the Bulwer-C Clayton
treaty, gave to England certain rights in
her colony Of Belize, in seeking for such
claims as she had set up on this coast; and
by the treaty of Manaqua in 1860, England
formally coded her protectorate to
Nicaragua.
But the wrangle still goes on, almost IN
aoated-not that there is now any just cause
Tor 1t, but because these people must have
something to wrangle about and this much
gnawed bone will do as well as any other.
First, let us see where the long contested
strip is located You will find it in the
north eastern portion of Central America,
bounded north and east by the Caribbean
Sea, south by Costa RIGA, west by Hon
duras, and southwest by Nicaragua. The
San Juan river divides it from Costa Rica,
and-including some disputed portions
claimed by Costa Rica-Mosquitia comprises
an area of about 81 900 square miles, at least,
that Is a fair average of the many estimates
have hnan w tn
know exactly where the boundary line
should be-
The adjacent 'Bay of Islands," including
Ruatan, Utila, Bonaca, ect, now belong to
the Rebublic of Honduras; but until 1921
those islands formed part of the Spanish
vice-Royalty of Guatemala. The earliest
Spanish historians squandered a vast
amount of time and ink in pointing out their
Importance, and subsequent events would
indicate that they succeeded in impressing
their ideas upon the world. In 1912
PARTY OF ENGLISH BUCCANEERS
took forcible possession of the islands, (then
claimed by SPAIN and held them more than
half century. In l715 the Spaniards made
an attempt to regain possession Of them;
and finally did so-only to find each once
lovely island a barren waste covered with
smoking ruins, for the freebooters destroyed
everything that could be burned or razed
before taking their enforced departure.
In 1912 England again sliced the bay of
Islands" and attempted to take possession
of the whole eastern coast of Central Amer
lea. BY that time, however, CaStilian blood
was up, and Spain-always proud nation
had then more ability to command respect
than she can claim to-day. A war ensued,
which was kept up at intervals during
twenty years, mostly on the high seas;
when treaty of peace was at last concluded,
by the provisions of which England was
bound to destroy all her fortifcations in
those regions and withdraw her men.
But willy Albion, relying on a secret res
ervation, afterwards denied that Ruatan
was included in the treaty, and kept that
island fortified more strongly than ever.
War, of course, resulted; and during the
course of it, Ruatan was siezed by Guate-
mala. A new treaty was made, in 1863, and
Spain, desiring to protect herself from any
future invasion by Great Britain, provided
thai the tish should abandon all Central
America. and all the islands dependant upon
it. Thus, by solemn treaty, England sur
rendered all her claims to any part OF the
American continent and its adjacent islands;
hat. notwithstanding all this she still held
1ast to little Ruatan; and she stuck to the
point for three long years, with persever
ance worthy better cause, while Spain
ragged in vain. At length another treaty
was Matched up, by which England again
agreed to evacuate all her ports and possess
ion, on the American continent and all its
islands, without any exceptions or reserva-
ions whatever. But in 1876, while England
and Spain were at war for other reasons, the
English again grapped Ruatan; but soon
gave it up to Honduras. In 1914 another
treaty was entered into, precisely like that
of twenty-eight years before, except that
now England gave the possessions to Hon
duras instead of to Spain. Indeed the chef
business of the Powers in those days seems
to have been the making of treaties and the
breaking of them.
Again in 1913 Commodore Macdonald, of
the British Navy, took possession of the
Islands,
HAULED DOWN THE FLAG OF HONDURAS
and hoisted that of England; but hardly had
he turned his back upon Ruatan, when the
British flag was taken down and the Union
Jack displayed. Macdonald was removed
from his post, and Britain-grown wiser
concerning the might of her rebel daughter,
the United States, repudiated his conduct
as unauthorized. BY this action, the Cen
tral American states naturally imagined
that Albion had concluded, at last, to aban-
don all claim to the long contested territory.
But in that they were mistaken; and, being
weak. they were obliged to submit Great
Britain now asserts no claim over the Bay
of Islands, except so far as the claim is con-
are questionable, being based upon nothing
but an ancient treaty with Spain, which
simply gave her license to cut wood at
Honduras.
After the discovery of gold in California
and the consequent rush across the Isthmus
England foreseeing that new attempts
would be made to open an inter oceanic
ship canal. "a scheme which had even then
been talked Of for three centuries set on
foot negotiations with the United States
through Lord Palmerson, for the formation
of treaty intended to circumscribe the
genius of America and put check upon the
evident intention of the Z. S. to appropri-
ate TO herself the advantages of such a com
municatiOn across the continent. The
result was that celebrated convention of
1850, between the Hon. John NJ. CLAYTON.
U S. Secretary of State, and the Right
Honorable Sir Henry Bulwer Minister
Plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary
of Great Britain at Washington, and Mem
Der of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Order
of the Bath.
The remarkable prodigy which these
national midWives introduced to the world
is too well known to need reproduction
The treaty Matched between them vaunt-
ingly announced to the world that all future
disputes were settled in Central America,
so far as the pretensions of Great Britain in
that quarter were concerned, that the ''Mos-
ouito Question" was permanently disposed
of and the general welfare of all mankind
oceured in a possible mode of communication
between the oceans.
THE only part of it, however. which had
political bearing, or which