Letter No. 1. Mr. Baiz to Mr. Houston. CONSULATE-GENERAL OF GUATEMALA, New York, July 31, 1890. DEAR SIR: I am quite surprised to learn from several reporters of the newspapers that your company has seen fit to make exaggerated expression of claims, etc., which your company intend making against the Government of Guatemala for an alleged overt act against one of your steamers in the taking of some arms, etc., from her while in the port of San José. The official information which I, have received states that the arms (if any) which were taken from the steamer was only done so by the authority of your agent and with the consent of the American minister at Guatemala, and was in accordance with article 17 of your contract with the Government. It is to be regretted that in this moment, when the Government of Guatemala is in a state of trouble because of the acts of the Salvador Government, that your company should endeavor to make matters worse, and prejudice public opinion against a country which has always carried out its obligations with your company, whose trade is a source of great revenue to you. I hope I may not seem partial in only asking that justice and moderation may be done to Guatemala, and Remain, etc., Letter No. 2. Mr. Houston to Mr. Baiz. JACOB BAIZ. PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP COMPANY, DEAR SIR: Your esteemed favor of the 31st ultimo has just been received and contents carefully noted. You close your letter by expressing the hope that justice and moderation may be done to Guatemala. The state of the case seems to be that the Pacific Mail Steamship Company is the party at this time to invoke "justice and moderation" on the part of the authorities of Guatemala in connection with the affair referred to. We have forwarded a claim to the President of the Republic of Guatemala based upon our rights as an American corporation, without disregarding our duties to that Republic under our contract for carrying the mails. We have found no one who is cognizant with the contract referred to who places any construction upon it that would allow the Guatemalan authorities the right to lay violent hands upon our ship or cargo, especially in view of the fact that we received a request from the Government of Guatemala (through our agent, Mr. J. H. Leverich) a few days before the arrival of the Colima at San José de Guatemala, asking us to charter said Government a steamer to transport 2,000 soldiers to Amapala direct, in which they made the statement that no war existed. It seems to be the generally conceded opinion of our people and press that the channels of information between the authorities of Guatemala and their ministers, consuls, and agents abroad have been uninterrupted, while those between all other parties have been entirely cut off since the 10th of July last. I notice from your letter that you state that the arms in question were taken from the steamer "by authority of our agent, with the consent of the American minister at Guatemala." As this statement is entirely at variance with the telegrams which we have received from our agent and other sources, is it possible that the statement referring to your communication with your Government can be correct? If it is so, I will defer to your superior information-otherwise I believe that we have acted properly in accordance with the light which we possessed. The statement is made to us by our agent that the ship was detained without authority, and that after we had agreed with the officers of the Guatemalan Government to return the arms to Acapulco, to be stored on our storeship Alaska they were seized while in transitu from the Colima to the City of Sydney and confiscated. For the detention of the ship and for violence done our property, we have rendered a claim to the President of the Republic of Guatemala, and have invoked the assistance of the Government of the United States in its prosecution. In regard to your statement that this company has in any way aggravated the condition of affairs prejudicial to your Government, you are entirely mistaken. We have simply attempted to defend our rights, and I say this without comment in ref erence to your statement that Guatemala has always carried out its obligations to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. This latter subject may be referred to later. [Inclosure 7 in No. 143.] J. B. HOUSTON, President. Mr. Houston to Mr. Blaine. PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP COMPANY, New York, August 4, 1890. (Received August 5.) DEAR SIR: Referring to my letter of the 1st instant, I now beg to inclose herewith copy of a letter from our special agent in Guatemala (Mr. J. H. Leverich), dated 17th ultimo, relating to the arms and ammunition on board the steamship, Colima, which explains itself. You will notice that this letter must have been sent before the arms had been seized and after being placed in the launch to be transferred from the Colima to the City of Sydney. We would state, for the information of the Department, that Captain Long is the commander of the Colima, and that Mr. Sarg, the gentleman mentioned in the last paragraph of Mr. Leverich's letter, is our agent at San José. These letters are sent in compliance with the expressed wish of the Department to be furnished with whatever information we receive on this subject. I am, etc., J. B. HOUSTON, President. Mr. Leverich to Pacific Mail Steamship Company. GUATEMALA, July 17, 1890. DEAR SIRS: I received the following message from Capt. J. S. Long this morning from San José, viz: Shipments of arms for Salvador seized by commandant of port. Ship detained until arms given up. Wire instructions or come yourself." I at once consulted Minister Mizner, who informed me that the Government had appealed to him yesterday not to allow the arms on board Colima destined for Salvador to be delivered at Salvador port, and that he had referred the question to Washington, and, in view of above telegram from Captain Long, that he would supplement his dispatch of yesterday, advising the arms had been seized as contraband of war by this Government, although no declaration of war had been made. I then sent you my message No. 1, as per inclosed copy. Later in the day the minister of foreign affairs sent for me and stated that article 17 of the company's contract prohibited the landing of the arms on board Colima at destination, aud requested that they be landed and deposited at San José with the United States consular agent, and that the Government would guaranty their safe keeping. It was also suggested they should be transshipped to City of Sydney to be returned to San Francisco, and I sent an order to the port to hold the Sydney until further orders. The answer given me by the superintendent of the telegraph office was that my order was too late, as steamer was just sailing. I thereupon dispatched you my message No. 2 (copy herewith). At 4 p. m. I was advised from San José agency that Sydney was detained awaiting my orders. After consulting with Mr. Sarg and Minister Mizuer, we deemed it best to transfer the arms to the City of Sydney for storage on hulk Alaska, at Acapulco, and I sent you message No. 3 to that effect. Respectfully yours, J. H. LEVERIch, Special Agent. No. 1.] Mr. Leverich to Pacific Mail Steamship Company. [Telegram.-Translation.] GUATEMALA, July 17, 1890. Guatemala Government has seized as contraband of war arms for Salvador on board steamship Colima. Steamer detained until arms given up. United States minister has telegraphed Washington, D. C., for instructions. Wire instructions. J. H. LEVERICH, Special Agent. No. 2.] Mr. Leverich to Pacific Mail Steamship Company. [Telegram.-Translation.] GUATEMALA, July 17, 1890. Referring to Guatemala mail contract, Guatemala Government requests deposit arms on board steamship Colima with United States consul at San José de Guatemala. J. H. LEVERICH, Mr. Leverich to Pacific Mail Steamship Company. [Telegram. Translation.] Special Agent. No. 3.] GUATEMALA, July 17, 1890. I have ordered arms to be transferred to steamship City of Sydney for storage on hulk Alaska. Mr. Wharton to Mr. Mizner. J. H. LEVERICH, Special Agent. No. 144.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Your No. 120 of the 16th ultimo, confirming your telegram of the same date in relation to the expected arrival at San José of certain arms intended for Salvador by a steamship of the Pacific Mail Company, was received on the completion of the instruction of yesterday on the subject of those arms. Your dispatch omits to state that the telegram of the 16th ultimo was transmitted by the Guatemalan secretary for foreign affairs, Señor Sobral, to the Guatemalan Minister in Mexico, a fact having an important bearing on communications with your legation. I am, etc., WILLIAM F. WHARTON, Mr. Wharton to Mr. Mizner. No. 145.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I transmit herewith copies of the instructions which the Department has addressed to you by telegraph in relation to the tender of the impartial good offices of the United States to compose the conflict between Guatemala and Salvador. For further convenience, and in order that this instruction may convey to you a connected view of the position of the Government in this regard, copies are also appended of the telegrams exchanged between this Department and our legation in Mexico touching the proposal of the Mexican Government to act, either jointly or concurrently, with the United States in the interest of peace on the basis of a full recognition of the autonomous sovereignty of the several states of Central America. Only the existing uncertainty, as to whether you have received the Department's instructions in this relation, and as to your ability to effectively execute them, by simultaneous communication with Salvador and Guatemala, has postponed a definite reply to the suggestion of the Government of Mexico. The minister of the United States, being accredited equally to the several powers of Central America, will be expected to use his good offices and proffer earnest counsel, without dictation and with conspicnous impartiality, in the interests of peace and harmony among them. Whatever may be the temporary situation of affairs in any of those states, the Government of the United States withdraws none of its friendship for each, and maintains unaltered its respect for their independent sovereign rights. Barred by the highest considerations of reverence for the principle of self-control, on which all truly constitutional forms of popular government must rest, from interfering with the autonomous rights of other commonwealths, it is equally impossible for us to countenance forcible interference from any quarter. Our sole desire is that complete good will may prevail among republics which, by their geographical position and because of the many interests they possess in common, seem especially fitted to move in concord toward the attainment of their conjoint ends. It is believed that the instructions which have been sent to you to proceed to San José and there avail yourself of the coöperation of our naval vessels, which has been promised in order to open safe and speedy communication with the Provisional Government of Salvador, will enable you to fulfill your instructions with impartial friendship to both contestants, and at the same time to preserve communication with the other Central American governments and take avail of whatever disinterested efforts they may be disposed to put forth toward the restoration of peace. Your mission is important as well as delicate, and, with confidence in your zeal and sound discretion, your report of the result of your endeavors is awaited with anxious interest. I am, etc., WILLIAM F. WHARTON, Mr. Wharton to Mr. Mizner. No. 146.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: The question of the prompt and certain communication with you during the perturbed condition of Guatemala and Salvador has for some time had the earnest attention of the Department. It was evident that communications by way of the land lines from Guatemala City to La Libertad were very early interrupted by the hostile operations on the borders of Salvador. Whether the land lines, via Mexico and Nenton, afforded a speedy and secure channel by which to reach you was not so evident. The Department has made every effort to instruct you in regard to the tender of good offices, which we were and are so earnestly desirous to make, and touching, also, the Colima incident; but neither of the two telegrams so far received from you since the 17th of July appears to be in response to the instructions sent you in cipher. Dispatches repeated to you through the United States legation in Mexico have been equally without acknowledgment, except, perhaps, the plain telegram which was forwarded to you by Mr. Ryan on the 1st instant, directing you to go to San José, and to which your telegram received on the 2d, via Nenton and the City of Mexico, may be a reply. I inclose herewith, for your information, copies of all the telegrams sent to you, and exchanged with Minister Ryan, in regard to the appar ent obstruction of communication with you. It is desirable that you should carefully compare the dates of the dispatches addressed to you, noting those received by you and the day and hour of their delivery. It is also desirable to know whether you have sent any other telegrams than the few which the Department has received from you through Mr. Ryan. The Department would be greatly relieved to learn that there has, in fact, been no interruption or interception of your dispatches in any quarter; but in this relation it is interesting to recall that in 1885, at the time of General Barrios's attempt to coerce a union of the Central American States, the Department's telegram of March 10, 1885, deprecating the use of force to that end was unaccountably delayed in transmission, although dispatches immediately preceding and following it were delivered to Mr. Hall with reasonable promptness. A full report and, if the facts require it, a searching investigation by you is necessary. The right of inviolable and unimpeded communication between a government and its envoy in another country is one of the most important in the intercourse of nations. This is especially the case with such a mission as yours. You are equally accredited to each of the five states of Central America, and your official utility depends, in time of disturbance, on your ability to keep open communications with them and with your own Government. Should the facts disclose any intentional or avoidable interference with your rights in this regard, no more serious cause of complaint could well be presented. Hence, also, the evident occasion for the Department's instruction to you to proceed to San José, and there open communication with Salvador by the aid of our naval vessels now on that coast. So long as your correspondence with the authorities of Salvador must pass through hostile Guatemalan channels the Department can feel no confidence that its instructions in regard to the impartial tender of our good offices to both combatants are being effectively carried out. Your report on the subject is awaited with interest and even anxiety. To guard against possible interference or delay, the present instruction will be forwarded to you through the commanding officer of the naval vessels, by way of Acapulco, and steamer thence to San José, in the expectation that it can be personally delivered to you at that port. Should you, unfortunately, not then be at San José, the commander will be requested to send an officer to seek you and place the instruction in your hands. I am, etc., WILLIAM F. WHARTON, Mr. Wharton to Mr. Mizner. [Telegram.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE. Mr.Wharton informs Mr. Mizner that General Guirala has telegraphed that messages from the Department to Mr. Mizner are not detained in Salvador. Mr. Wharton adds that the detention would appear to be in Guatemalan territory, and instructs Mr. Mizner to be watchful in that direction. |