No. 114.
Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish.
Guatemala, June 24, 1874. (Received August 12.)
Sir: Referring to the last paragraph of my No. 167, I have the honor to lay before you the facts and reasons which my present information suggests to be the chief obstacles to a union of the Central American states under one government.
1. The memories of the sanguinary struggles that occurred on account of the attempted federal union from the year 1822 until the execution [Page 173] of Morazan in the plaza of San José, Costa Rica, on the 15th of September, 1842, are still quite fresh in the minds of the people. The immense loss of life, destruction of property, paralysis of commerce and agriculture and all progress, that befell Central America during the twenty years of that protracted contest, may be considered as a warning against a future attempt.
2. The debt incurred during the existence of the federal union has been a thorn in the side of all the states. The practical repudiation of their portion of it has been a stigma upon the credit of several of them. The payment of their portion by others has imposed a heavy burden upon the people.
3. No one who has not traveled through these States can realize the immense amount of local prejudice that exists; prejudices that are not based upon conflicts or diversity of interest, but seemingly the result of traditional antipathies. The antagonism of Leon and Grenada in Nicaragua caused the removal of the seat of government to a half-way place, Managua, at the time an Indian village.
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4. No state seems to accord to any other state a priority in anything. My experience has taught me to be extremely careful not to institute comparisons.
5. The populations are by no means homogeneous in any one state, and in the five states are about as heterogeneous as possible, shading from the fair-haired and blue-eyed Saxon to the black skin of the Carib.
6. There is no apparent identity of interest among the states, although, being almost exclusively agricultural, and engaged in the production of the same products, there is no obvious reason why there should be any diversity.
7. Since the death of Ex-President Cabañas, of Honduras, there has been no prominent man in Central America who has ventured to make a public issue upon the question of federation. If there are really political parties in Central America, neither one of them has embodied in its platform now, the enunciation of the principle that a federal union of the states is either practicable or desirable. If that principle ever was a cardinal one of the liberal party, it has become obsolete, and in my judgment now has quite as many advocates among those who are called serviles or re-actionists as among those termed liberals.
The pacts of Nacaomi, Chinandiga, San Miguel, and La Union, (the last as late as February 17, 1872; see Foreign Relations, 1871, p. 520,) are indications that the idea of unity has had, and probably may now have, advocates. The frequent mention of the ultimate union of the states in the papers of public men might induce a stranger to suppose there exists some popular sentiment in its favor.
Such expressions are used, I imagine, to round periods, pretty much after the fashion with which similar phrases are adopted in reference to the Utopian idea of a unity of the so-called Latin republics of America.
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8. The difficulty of inter-communication presents an almost insurmountable barrier to a union.
The masses of the people of the several states know nothing of their neighbors. They have never seen any of them, except, perhaps, on the sea-coast; or a few peddlers; or as soldiers, carrying death and ruin along with their victorious banners. It is easier to make a trip from New York to Constantinople and back than from Guatemala to San José or Costa Rica, by land, and the former can be accomplished in a shorter time. The communications by sea are also slow, owing to the fact that [Page 174] all the capitals are in the interior. Guatemala and Salvador are the only two states connected by telegraph, and that has been accomplished within the last few days. This same difficulty will stand in the way at all times, to a great degree, because the broken character of the country will always prevent the construction of continuous lines of railway.
9. Costa Rica, if I am not misinformed, historically as well as presently, has no disposition to join the other states in a federal union. Her traditional policy seems to be that of isolation, to as great an extent as consistent with the preservation of good relations. The causes for this are too numerous to discuss in this dispatch, and I content myself by stating my belief of the fact.
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I have thus presented to you, as briefly as possible, the facts and reasons upon which the opinion is based, that a federal union of the Central American states is not likely to occur for many years, and is even doubtful altogether.
I have no information that warrants the opinion that any foreign power in late years has intrigued to prevent such a union. The latest diplomatic interference is said to have been made by the French chargés d’affaires during the time of the French occupation of Mexico. So far as it has been possible for me to inform myself on the subject, I believe the foreign powers are content at present to make the most they can commercially out of Central America, and to assent to a prevailing idea in this quarter that there is a “manifest destiny” which sooner or later will make the Central American states, as a whole or separately, members of the American Union.
I have, &c.,