With reference to this transaction President Pierce, in a special message to Congress of May 15, 1856, made the following statement: "It is the established policy of the United States to recognize all governments without question of their source, or organization, or of the means by which the governing persons attain their power, provided there be a government de facto accepted by the people of the country, and with reserve only of time as to the recognition of revolutionary governments arising out of the subdivision of parent states with which we are in relations of amity. We do not go behind the fact of a foreign government's exercising actual power to investigate questions of legitimacy; we do not inquire into the causes which led to a change of government. To us it is indifferent whether a successful revolution has been aided by foreign intervention or not; whether insurrection has overthrown existing governments and another has been established in its place, according to preexisting forms, or in a manner adopted for the occasion by those whom we may find in the actual possession of power. All these matters we leave to the people and public authorities of the particular country to determine; and their determination, whether it be by positive action or by ascertained acquiescence, is to us a sufficient warranty of the legitimacy of the new government. "During the sixty-seven years which have elapsed since the establishment of the existing government of the United States, in all which time this Union has maintained undisturbed domestic tranquillity, we have had occasion to recognize governments de facto, founded either by domestic revolution or by military invasion from abroad, in many of the governments of Europe. "It is the more imperatively necessary to apply this rule to the Spanish-American republics, in consideration of the frequent and not seldom anomalous changes of organization or administration which they undergo, and the revolutionary nature of most of the changes. "When, therefore, some time since, a new minister from the Republic of Nicaragua presented himself, bearing the commission of President Rivas, he must and would have been received as such, unless he was found on inquiry subject to personal exception, but for the absence of satisfactory information upon the question whether President Rivas was in fact the head of an established government of the Republic of Nicaragua, doubt as to which arose not only from the circumstance of his avowed association with armed emigrants recently from the United States, but that the proposed minister himself was of that class of persons, and not otherwise or previously a citizen of Nicaragua. "Another minister from the Republic of Nicaragua has now presented himself, and has been received as such, satisfactory evidence appearing that he represents the Government de facto, and, so far as such exists, the Government de jure of that Republic. "That reception, while in accordance with the established policy of the United States, was likewise called for by the most imperative special exigencies, which require that this Government shall enter at once into diplomatic relations with that of Nicaragua. In the first place, a difference has occurred between the Government of President Rivas and the Nicaragua Transit Company, which involves the necessity of inquiry into rights of citizens of the United States, who allege that they have been aggrieved by the acts of the former, and claim protection and redress at the hands of their Government. In the second place, the interoceanic communication by the way of Nicaragua is effectually interrupted, and the persons and property of unoffending private citizens of the United States in that country require the attention of their Government. Neither of these objects can receive due consideration without resumption of diplomatic intercourse with the Government of Nicaragua." " a The recognition of the Rivas-Walker government was a few months later withdrawn. On July 24, 1856, President Rivas accredited a new minister to the United States. When the preliminary copy of his credentials was presented, Mr. Marcy, in the name of the President, replied that the troubled state of affairs in Nicaragua rendered it uncertain who possessed the civil authority of the state, if, indeed, there was any established authority entitled "to be considered as a real or de facto government." "It is not, I presume," said Mr. Marcy, "unknown to you that the right of Don Patricio Rivas to exercise the functions of President of Nicaragua is seriously contested. The reception of a diplomatic agent by the President from either of the contestants for the chief magistracy would necessarily involve a decision in regard to that controversy by the Executive of the United States, which, in consequence of the imperfect and conflicting statements of the political condition of that country, he is not now pre a H. Ex. Doc. 103, 34 Cong., 1 sess., 5-6. In answer to a complaint made by Mr. Osma, the Minister from Peru, of President Pierce's recognition of the Rivas-Walker Government in Nicaragua, Mr. Marcy said: "The United States regretted as much as Peru could do the unhappy political dissensions which prevailed for a long time in that State, and the disastrous consequences which have resulted from them. One political party, for the purpose of obtaining advantage over another, sought foreign aid, and invited Walker, with his associates, to join its ranks. The invitation was accepted. So long as there was a contest for power, so long as any question could be raised as to the persons in whose hands the Government, actual or de facto, had fallen, this Government did nothing which could afford any pretense for complaint to any party in the State of Nicaragua, or to any foreign power." (Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Osma, Sept. 24, 1856, MS. Notes to Peruvian Leg. I. 148.) That the United States recognize foreign governments as existing de facto, without regard to their forms, see opinion of Mr. Cushing, Attorney-General, 1855, 7 Op. 582. a pared to make. I am, therefore, directed to acquaint you that he declines to receive you as minister from Nicaragua." "Your dispatches of the 10th of November, Nos. 5 and 6, have been received. In your No. 5 you announce that a revoluCosta Rica, 1868. tion has taken place in Costa Rica, which was effected by the mere display of military force, unresisted, and without the effusion of blood. You further announce that in that movement the President, Señor Castro, was deposed, and the first provisional substitute, Señor Jimenez, had assumed the executive power. The further transactions mentioned are an acquiescence of the several provinces, the suspension of the constitution, and the call of a national convention to adopt a new constitution. As a consequence of these events, you have recognized the new President, subject to directions on the occasion from the President of the United States. "It does not belong to the Government or people of the United States to examine the causes which have led to this revolution, or to pronounce upon the exigency which they created. Nevertheless, great as that exigency may have been, the subversion of a free republican constitution, only nine years old, by military force, in a sister American Republic, cannot but be an occasion of regret and apprehension to the friends of the system of republican government, not only here, but throughout the world. "It only remains to say that the course which you have pursued is approved, insomuch as it appears that there is not only no civil war, but no Government contending with the one which has been established." Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Blair, Dec. 1, 1868, Dip. Cor. 1868, II. 337. a Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Señor Don Antonio José de Irisarri, Oct. 28, 1856, MS. Notes to Cent. Am. I. 119. Oct. 18, 1886, Mr. Castellon, minister of foreign relations of Nicaragua, addressed to Mr. Hall, the minister of the United States, the following note: "I have the honor to inform you that having transcribed to the minister of the treasury your esteemed note of the 224 September, together with a copy of the bond accompanying it, I have received the reply of which the following is a copy: "I have had the honor to receive the communication that you were pleased to address me on the 8th inst., in which is transmitted the note of the minister of the United States, dated the 22d of September, inquiring as to the authenticity and validity of the supposed bond of this Republic issued, as it is pretended, in conformity with a decree of the Government of Nicaragua of the 28th of August, 1856. A textual copy of the bond accompanies the above-mentioned note. "The mentioned decree is not known to the Government, nor does it exist on the records of our loans, nor is the obligation to which it refers a legitimate debt of the Republic. By the dates that are cited I perceive that it must be the work of the filibusters of Walker, who were here about that time, and whose history of depredation and rapine is well known. Of course the foreign usurpers never had any right to compromise the credit of this Republic."" (For. Rel. 1887, 76. This reply was referred to by Mr. Day, Assist. Sec. of State, in a letter to Mr. Taliaferro, Oct. 9, 1897, 221 MS. Dom. Let. 409.) Salvador, 1890. "The peace of Central America has again been disturbed through a revolutionary change in Salvador, which was not recognized by other states, and hostilities broke out between Salvador and Guatemala, threatening to involve all Central America in conflict and to undo the progress which had been made toward a union of their interests. The efforts of this Government were promptly and zealously exerted to compose their differences, and through the active efforts of the representative of the United States a provisional treaty of peace was signed August 26, whereby the right of the Republic of Salvador to choose its own rulers was recognized. General Ezeta, the chief of the provisional government, has since been confirmed in the Presidency by the assembly, and diplomatic recognition duly followed." President Harrison, Annual Message, Dec. 1, 1890. July 17, 1893, the minister of the United States in Nicaragua was instructed "to report without delay when the control of the executive power of Nicaragua shall pass with general acquiescence to any government, and to maintain an attitude of impartiality during the deeply deplored continuance of civil dissensions in that country." a Greater Republic of By a treaty concluded at Amapala, Honduras, June 20, 1895, and of which the ratifications were exchanged on the 15th of September, 1896, the Republics of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador agreed to form a single political organization for the exercise of their external sovereignty, with the title of the Greater Republic of Central America. The President of the United States recognized this organization by receiving a minister from it on December 24, 1896, such recognition being given "upon the distinct understanding that the responsibility of each of these Republics toward the United States remains wholy unaffected." The United States, however, remained without a representative to the Greater Republic of Central America, appropriations continuing to be made for a minister to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Salvador, and a minister to Guatemala and Honduras, and the two ministers continuing to be so accredited. Owing to the compact of June 20, 1895, whereby the members of the Greater Republic of Central America had surrendered to the representative Diet the right to send and receive diplomatic agents, the minister to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Salvador was received only by Costa Rica; and the minister to Guatemala and Honduras only by Guatemala. Subsequently a permanent constitution was formed under the name of "The United States of Central a Mr. Gresham, Secretary of State, to Mr. Baker, minister to Nicaragua, tel., July 17, 1893, For. Rel. 1893, 203; same to same, Aug. 15, 1893, Id. 212. For. Rel. 1896, 366-371, 390-392, 395. 29 Stat. 579; 30 Stat. 262. See, also, Annual Message of the President, Dec. 6, 1897. d President's Annual Message, Dec. 5, 1898, p. 22. H. Doc. 551-10 America." It was signed by representatives of the three States, at Managua, August 27, 1898, and was to take effect November 1. On that day, pursuant to its provisions, a provisional executive council was installed at Amapala, to last till a president should be elected by the people. Almost immediately, however, revolutionary movements occurred, and particularly a separatist movement in Salvador. November 29, 1898, the provisional executive council announced the dissolution of the union, and similar announcements by the individual States immediately followed, each one resuming its independent sovereignty." "This was followed by the reception of Minister Merry by the republics of Nicaragua and Salvador, while Minister Hunter in turn presented his credentials to the Government of Honduras, thus reverting to the old distribution of the diplomatic agencies of the United States in Central America for which our existing statutes provide. A Nicaraguan envoy has been accredited to the United States."b 9. MEXICO. President Pierce, in a special message of May 15, 1856, observed that "five successive revolutionary governments" had Comonfort, Zuloaga, and Miramon made their appearance in Mexico "in the course of a Governments. few months, and been recognized successively each as the political power of that country by the United States." On the very day on which this message was published, Ignatius Comonfort, as vice-president of the Republic, in the exercise of extraordinary powers, proclaimed a provisional constitution. In the following year the present federal constitution of Mexico was adopted. Comonfort took an oath to support it, and was elected constitutional president for the four years beginning December 1, 1857. Within a month, as the result of a revolution, he was driven from power, and a military government was set up by General Zuloaga. This government was recognized by the entire diplomatic corps, including Mr. Forsyth, the minister of the United States, without awaiting instructions. No answer appears to have been made to the dispatch in which Mr. Forsyth reported this action." Zuloaga, however, was soon expelled by a For. Rel. 1898, 173–178. President McKinley, Annual Message, Dec. 5, 1899. Dec. 6, 1898, Mr. Hay, Secretary of State, telegraphed to Mr. Hunter that, as the union of the United States of Central America had apparently broken up without restoration of the Diet, he should address the executive of Honduras, offering to present his original credentials. (For. Rel., 1899, 355.) Dec. 20, 1898, Mr. Hunter, in order to make sure that his credentials would be received, transmitted by mail to the minister of foreign affairs of Honduras his original credentials and letter to President Bonilla. (For. Rel., 1898, 356.) He was duly advised of his recognition as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Republic of Honduras. The decree so recognizing him was dated January 19, 1899. (For. Rel. 1899, 357-360.) c H. Ex. Doc. 103, 34 Cong. 1 sess. 5. d Moore, Int. Arbitrations, II. 1289. |