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PAPERS OF MIRABEAU BuoNAPARTE LAMAR
pursuing - What is all this but a tacet acquiescence in and approval <>f my proceedings and a virtual recognition of my contract? In the ~vent therefore of the non ratification of my contract I shall be con- strained to appeal to my Emperor for his interposition, with full con- fidence that he whose protection you invoked against the North will know how to vindicate the rights of his subjects" - That Mr Belly will assume this position in the last resort there can be no doubt; and I have some reason to beleive that his friends in Paris indicated to Costa Rica the danger of exposing herself to heavy reclamations should she refuse to ratify said Contract - Thus we behold Nicaragua first eourted and flattered, then insulted and defied; and all by the man who induced her to beleive that he was only seeking to shield her from the gory beak of the American Eagle - Now Sir what does Nicaragua expect? If her policy is simply to open a Ship Canal across her Territory for the use of Commerce, she will certainly be deceived. No one knows better than Mr Beiley himself the impracticability of the enterprise. Even if it were practicable, it could only be effected by expenditures altogether too enormous for the present demands of Commerce. It would not be a paying business. With a slight improvement of the river San Juan and a short railroad of twelYe miles only the present ·Transit route, ean be rendered quite sufficient for all the trade that will cross this Istmus for many years to come. The Ship-Canal, if practicable, is too gigantic an enterprise for Mr Belley. He will never be able [to] accomplish it. He may probably remove a few rocks in the river and excavate a few shovels of dirt from the main land, and upon the strength of this will claim to have commenced operations and will de- mand possession of the lands conceeded in the contract. Should this demand be resisted, the bayonets of his Emperor will be as ready to sustain it. It is idle to talk about the terms of this contract, Mr Belly can place upon that instrument whatever construction he pleases- We have just seen how he construed it into a valid contract without the act of ratification And in the like manner as soon as he displays his engineers and soldiers upon the river in sign of beginning his work, he can construe the immediate occupancy of the lands into a valid daim It is evident that his whole policy is to take possession of that route and hold the ceeded lands with or without the consent of Nica- ragua - Does Your Excellency ask me how he will effect this? I answer by the simple process of force -Costa Rica (the Republic of) has already ratified that Contract without any alteration or modifica- tions, and she will require of Nicaragua to do the same. - There is no doubt that difficulties will ensue between the two republics Should Nicaragua refuse Costa Rica succored and sustained by the Belly Com- pany and perhaps by the Govmt of France itself will attempt to coerce her She has her special reasons for this, It is current that President Mora contracted a loan in Europe depending upon the ratification of said contract by Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, it is therefore her interest to maintain the pretensions of Mr Belly, and any difficulties which may grow out of this question cannot otherwise result than in evil to Nicaragua - She has lost the department of Guanacasto by negotiation, and she may yet loose the river San Juan and the department of Rivas by
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