St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-25
DIPLOMATES STIRRED UP.
fActfOn Taken as a Threat Mt Fu-
ture of South America.

fActfOn Taken as a Threat Mt Fu-
]. ture of South America.
s WASHINGTON, April A-The re-
ports from Nicaragua confirm the re-
. ceipt of statements from the dis
patches that a. blockade of Nicaraguan
ports would be Great Britain's means
of executing her demands. The under
standing is that the blockade will be-
gin next Saturday, giving Nicaragua
. three full days intervening to yield
I to the demands in every particular.
. There is good reason to believe that
the demands will not be altered, re-
! duced or compromised in the slightest
particular, one of the main purposes
of England to administer a lesson to
Nicaragua, and indirectly to all South
ern republics, as to British methods
of, redress. The maneuver will prob
ably be a pacific blockade, as hereto
fore explained. care being taken. TO
bring Nicaragua's commerce to a
standstill and yet to leave foreign
commerce as free as ever. It is said, !.
however, that Nicaragua's coast com
merce is very small, so that Great
Britain's pacific blockade may develop
into a more .forcible move in order to
make it effective.
As to the landing of British marines
at Corinto, which is now understood
to be part of the programme, it Is
stated by officials that this will not
menace or endanger the interests of
the United States or other foreign ma
tions. The case of the British bonn
bardment of Alexandria is cited to
show the British policy towards for
ajEnarS a a foY cd int T,,
case Great Britain wished to strike
Egypt, but to do so she was compelled
to inJure some foreign interests at
Alexandria Notice was therefore
given that foreign interests would be
protected with every precaution pos
sible, and if they were injured as an
incident to the attack, compensation
. would be made. Subsequently, the
few foreign interests which suffered
were voluntarily remunerated by Great
Britain. 1t is said the same policy
will be used at Corinto. Great care
will be taken to protect foreign inter-
ests, and should the latter suffer in
/ directly they will be compensated for
/ loss.
CORINTO
| is the best port of the Central Amer
lean states in the Pacific coast. 1t is
most important to Nicaragua, and it
is the terminus of the line of the Cen
trail railroad. 1t is a very old place
and was formerly called Raelejo.
There is a depth of eighteen feet of
water in the harbor at low tide Be
tween the Island of Carbon and the
point of Castanes there is dangerous
bar. The port of San Juan del Sur
has a harbor of average size, and there
is sufficiently good anchorage. 1t is
filling with sand, however, and the
/ entrance is becoming choked, making
shipping more difficult San Juan del
Sur is in communication with Lake
Nicaragua by macadam road, built
by the New York & California Transit
company.
Corinto is the heaviest import point
in Nicaragua. The imports there for
1922 were $6,006, 800, while all imports
to other points did not exceed $500, 600.
1t is evident from this why the British
chose Corinto for their strike Almost
one-half of the imports at Corinto are
from Great Britain, so that the British
seizure of the custom houses will result
in their receiving the custom dues from
British merchant ships. The British
imports for 1882 were 81, 1872, col; those
of the. United States come second, at
| 81, $50; Germany, s1,042, ,055; France,
SS9S, IA. The rest of the import trade
was with neighboring South and Cen
trail American countries. The imports
of San Juan del Sur were S13S, $50. AS
the Corinto imports average about
$500, 900 monthly, 1t would not take long
for Great Britain to appropriate the
| $4,000 indemnity demanded.
The tariff rates of Nicaragua are such
that the $6,006, ,S05 of imports on 1881
| yielded 81, ,05S,913 in customs duties. Most
of this was collected at Corinto. At
this rate the receipts at Corinto would
/ reach s75,000 within thirty days, unless
commerce was diverted to other parts.
| 1t Is
SIGNIFICANT FACT
that the largest part of Nicaragua s
! foreign debt is represented by bonds
held in London, and payable there. in
| 1919. This foreign debt aggregates ST.
| los. .2H. The London holders have thus
far received their interest on the bonds
very promptly. If, however, Nicara-
qua is crippled by the seizure of her
customs receipts, it may react by a fail
| 'ure to meet the interest on the bonds
held in London. The diplomatic repre-
sentatives of the Central and South
American republics are very much dis
:turbed by this late feature of the case
| s(the meeting of bond obligations fol