, 1900-02-16
NICARAGUA TREATY.
OLD CLAYTON-BULWER COMPACT
WHICH HAS BLOCKED CON-
STRUCIoN OF CANAL.
1t Was Secured by British Trickery
and for Fifty Years Has Held the
United States in Fetters-England
Has Practically Nullffed the Trea-
ty More Than Once.

" MOle lnan Ouce.
For fifty years the convention know
as the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. which
the new Hay-Pauncefote treaty is in
tended to abrogate, has cast its shadow
over every proposal upon the part o
the government of the United State.
to build an isthmian canal. This trea
ty was signed April 10, 1850, by Sil
Henry Bulwer, representing Great Brit
ain, and John NJ. Clayton, secretary o
state under President Taylor. Since
then the treaty has been a subject Of
continual dispute. In general when
put to a specific test, its validity has
been stoutly denied by American
statesmen, either upon the ground that
its most important provisions were
misunderstood by the senate which
ratified it. or that England proceeded
to violate her part Of the compact be.
fore the ink IN the treaty paper was
dry. Presidents Buchanan, Grant, Gar
field, and Arthur. and the secretaries
of state, and also committees of the
Forty-Sixth and Fifty-First congress
es, demanded the formal and final abb
rogation" Of the treaty. English d.
plomacy in n way or another has
eyaded the issue until the arrangement
Of the Hay treaty last week.
So ambieNously was the Clayton.
Bulwer tresty worded that its con.
struction, for that feason II no other
has been a matter of considerable diff.
ficulty. Its important provisions are
summarized by the expert in cana
matters, Prof. l.. N. Keasbey, as fol.
lows: ~
l Neither Great Britain nor the Uni.
ted States shall ever obtain or main.
tain any exclusive -coatrol ove the ca.
nal: ner shah theE th1iM any fortiAca.
lions along the route Of the same, OF
colombo or assume or exercise any do
minion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica
the Mosquito coast, or any part OF Cen.
trail America.
Q Neither Great Britain nor the Uni.
ted States shall over take possession
OF any part Of Central America, nor for.
tify any part Of the same, nor estab.
lish any colonies there, nor exert any
dominion, nor make any use Of any al.
lance or protectorate either may have
there to that end.
3 Great Britain and the United States
promise mutually to guard the safety
and neutrality Of the canal, and to in.
vite all other nations to do the same
Great Britain and the United
States also promise to extend their
Joint support and protection to any
satisfactory canal company which may
undertake the work.
5 Great Britain and the United
States, having not only desired, in en-.
tering into this convention. to accom-.
plfsh a particular object, but also to
establish a general principle, hereby
agree to extend their protection, by
treaty stipulations, to any other practi-
cable communications which are now
proposed to be established by the way
of ~Tehuantepec and Panama.
This is the treaty as it was signed
by Clayton and Bulwer and ratified
hastily and secretly by the United
States senate. By this convention
Great Britain withdrew absolutely all
pretensions which she had been setting
up previously to the Mosquito coun-
try, Tigre island, or any portion of
the Nicaragua coast. But, unknown
to congress, certain semi-oficial notes
relative to the treaty passed between
Sir Henry Bulwer and Secretary Clay
ton, which, il admitted as constituting
the treaty, gave to 1t a meaning entire
!y different from that which the SEN
ate had supposed it to have.
Sir Henry's trump card in the nego-
~tiation OF the Clayton-Bulwer treaty
was a note addressed to Secretary
Clayton. who wrote a personal note to
Mr.. King, then chairman of the senate
committee on foreign affairs, asking
him to s~ubstantiate Bulwer's and bis
own conclusion that the treaty was
not intended to apply to British Hon
duras." Clayton thus left out the i'm
portant word dependencies" Mr..
King replied at, once that the treaty
was not understood to apply to Brit
ish Honduras. but added cautiously.
You should be careful not to use any
expression which would seem to recog-
nlze the right Of England to any por-
ton Of Honduras"
Mr.. Clayton then made a memoran-
dunn and filed it In the archives of the
department acknowledging that the
treaty did not apply to English rights
in British Honduras, adding. But at
~ same time ~ItSaxefully decbtssH u
sdirm or deny thARsllsh title in Ahall
settlement or,tls- allsEa1dspendAHsiaA,
Thus it came about that two very
different constructions were put upon
the Clayton-Bulwer treaty 1t the out
set by Great Britain and by this coun.
try. A long series Of British agrees
sions and colonization schemes In
Central America Led up 10 thS SHINING
q tie V>sty - to
the interminable MosQuko coast dis
putes. THE eastern coast Of Nicaragus
MAJ S----