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'fEXAS STATE LIBRARY
and of the United States, on the 16th. of November last, has given serious dissatisfaction to the President. That Treaty, had it been ratified by both parties, would have provided for the satisfactory a_rrangement of all the unsettled questions between them. It was negotiated by agents furnished with full powers, and on its reception in Nicaragua it met the approbation of the President, and was sent by him to the Constituent Assembly for its ratification, and was constitutionally ratified by that body. · The disposition since made of it is unknown to this Government. It is known, however, that the just expectations of this Government have been disappointed, and that too, under circumstances of the most un- plaisant character. Assurances were more than once received by the Nicaraguan Minister here, and I am persuaded he believed them, that the Treaty had been ratified and was already in its way to this country by a special messenger; and you also were firmly persuaded by the cir- •cumstances you stated, that such had been the action of the Nicaraguan Government. On the 28th. of March you announced to this Depart- ment the ratification of the Treaty, and on the 28 of April you reported that you had been led into error upon this subject. You explained the causes which had misled you, and certainly they were such as to justify the impression they produced and to lead to the conviction that you were intentionally deceived. It is deeply to be regretted that the Presi- dent of that Republic when he received your congratulations upon the ratification of the Treaty did not promptly and frankly point out to you your error, so that you might communicate the true condition of affairs to your own Government. · You refer to a conversation which you had with the Minister of Foreign Relations on the 26th. of May, and during which he made representations, which it is difficult to reconcile with the propri- eties belonging to his position, or with the facts themselves, so far as these are known to this Department. At this interview, as ari excuse for the inaction of the Nicaraguan Government, he·stated to you that certain amendments and modifications had been forwarded to Mr. Buchanan, and that as soon as Mr. Buchanan's answer was received - which, he said, would be in about eight days from that time - the Gov- -ernment would be able to speak more definitely about its fate. This personal reference to the Chief Magistrate of a country, with the avowal that a correspondence had been opened with him by the minister of Foreign Affairs of another Government, is a procedure at once uncorteous ,and unusual in the intercourse of Nations. But besides this objection, there is yet another. No application has been made for a modification ,of the Treaty, either to the Chief Magistrate himself, or to the officer charged, under his direction, with the management of the Foreign Re- lations of •the country. This statement of the minister, therefore, is -only a new and unsuccessful effort to account for the delays which have taken place; and adds obviously to the responsibility of the Government of Nicaragua. No explanation has been received from that Govern- ment justifying or attenuating its proceedings, nor is it known here what is the present situation of the Treaty, nor what disposition it is intended to make of it. Had it been duly ratified and exchanged it would have removed all existing causes of complaint, and would have laid the foundation for the most amicable relations and the most useful Google
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