No. 49.
Mr. Williamson to Mr. Evarts.
Legation of
the United States in Central America,
Guatemala
,
April 25, 1877.
(Received May 21.)
No. 616.]
Sir: I have the honor to inclose you printed copies
and translation of the addresses made recently in Salvador on the occasion
of the official reception of the minister of Guatemala accredited to that
and the other Central American States.
As President Zaldivar owes his office to President Barrios, of Guatemala, the
two discourses may be said to express the present ideas of the latter
chief.
You will not fail to note that both attribute the past misfortunes of the
Central American States to a lack of knowledge of each other and to the want
of union. I apprehend the cause lies deeper than this, and that it may be
found in the inaptitude of the people either to govern themselves, or to
yield obedience to any government that is not essentially despotic, whatever
may be its form. A union of the States that would promise peace and assure
liberty would be desirable, but seems unattainable under existing
conditions; for there is no internal peace understood here except that which
results from passive obedience, and no liberty conceived of except that
unlicensed kind which is destructive of all social and political bonds.
Whether these opinions are correct or incorrect, there is no doubt President
Barrios still entertains the ambition imputed to him, and yet hopes to
become the President of the Central American Union. He proposes to employ
the means of peaceful persuasion and the influence of the hoped-for example
of the superior progress and stability of Guatemala under his rule. The
ambition, if entertained, is not an ignoble one, and the realization of its
dreams may not be an unmixed evil to Central America. Every philanthropist
must feel an interest in any scheme that may improve the political and
social condition of these people. They do not lack vivacity of intellect or
courage, and possess many amiable qualities. Their various political
experiments evince a persistency of effort to find a government suitable to
themselves that merits a better success. If my observations and study of
these people have not taken a wrong direction, I would surmise that a
sociologist might say, we are witnessing in Central America the struggle of
an almost stagnant population against complete stagnation and consequent
decay. I hope President Barrios or some one else may be able to save
them.
I have the honor, &c.,
[Page 64]
[Inclosure 1 in No.
616.—Translation.]
Speech of the minister of Guatemala on his
reception.
The idea of preserving unalterable the order and tranquillity of Central
America, of expanding under the shadow of peace our national elements,
of exploring the wealth which enriches this privileged region of the
planet, called by its geographical position to be the center of the
commerce of the world; the idea of guaranteeing to our country permanent
institutions, placed at the altitude of the civilization of the age, of
carrying out in its greatest and most transcendental applications the
principle of liberty, the base of our social improvements; the idea
inspired by the knowledge of our most vital interests, nurtured by the
most ardent patriotism and sustained by the most profound conviction,
has come to be nothing for these republics: a shadow of the past, a
dream of the present, an illusion of the future.
The cause of a deception as strange as rare and sad is no longer a
mystery for our politicians, since that a sentiment of pure and sincere
Central Americanism has shown to us that we do not progress as we should
because we do not unite, and we do not unite because we do not know one
another sufficienly to appreciate one another as we ought to. We must,
therefore, look for the beginning of our evils not alone in the want of
union, but chiefly in the existence of bad feeling. Why have these
states, which nature has grouped together upon the isthmus that unites
the two Americas with an indentity of origin, of elements, and of
destiny, been able to give over loving one another? More, why have they
been able to stain their native soil with blood in civil strifes, always
renewed and always sterile? Why has the Central American country, united
in national sentiment, united in the darkness of slavery as in the dawn
of liberty, carried the political division of its states even into the
moral division of-its inhabitants, of its principles, of its tendencies?
Our independence of Spain was scarcely realized when the colonial party
on one side and personal ambition on the other sowed, in Central
America, the seeds of division and discord, which, during half a century
and in the succeeding generations, has gone on developing a local
spirit, and with this spirit emulation, rivalries, and bad feeling. In
presence of the history of our misfortunes, in presence of the illusions
of which we have been the victims, what should Central Americans do now?
What they should do is to manfully combat with the evil that is
destroying them; to draw to one another in order that they may know one
another, and to know one another in order the better to esteem one
another. Disaffection must die immediately when the prejudices that
sustain it disappear. Disunion does not exist in the presence of the
voice of nature that calls us brothers, in the presence of the voice of
sympathy which calls us friends, in the presence of the evidence which
shows us that we are worthy one of the other, and in the presence of
convenience which obliges us to unite our interests in order that we may
not be the plaything of the strong.
It will not be difficult to work profitably for our own good if we are
moved by a sincere, firm, and decided will; it will not be impossible to
sustain peace in Central America if we labor to that end with the same
diligence as we have shown up to the present in making war.
Penetrated by this truth, the general president of Guatemala,
participating in the sentiments and dispositions of the sister
republics, has intrusted to me the pleasing and honorable mission of
announcing to the other governments of Central America the desire which
animates him of extending the good relations which exist between those
governments and that of Guatemala and the confidence which he cherishes
that by the peoples and governments becoming more closely related, they
may all be enabled by a common accord to arrange measures in order that
peace and the blessings that are inseparable from it may become a
reality in Central America.
Excellency, on having the honor to place in your hands the autographic
letter which accredits me to your illustrious government of Salvador,
permit me to express the most fervent wishes for the personal happiness
of your excellency, and for the success and prosperity of the noble and
valiant Salvadorian people.
[Inclosure 2 in No.
616.—Translation.]
Answer of the President of Salvador.
Possessed of true Central American sentiments, I have heard the
expressive address which you have just made me. The ideas you express
relative to the origin and motives of the lamentable state in which our
States have remained since the first days of their glorious independence
are correct. The sad consequences which have logically followed from a
situation which at first held out all hopes, to afterward make the
deceptions [Page 65] of the past more
painful, are apparent; Having impartially studied our political and
moral condition, and having clearly placed before me the causes of the
facts which have occurred, I have acquired the most profound conviction
that only decided and patriotic wills can improve the actual
condition.
International alliances and written conventions, dictated sometimes by
necessity and sometimes by convenience, have not carried the stamp of
firmness, good faith, and stability necessary in order to have
consolidated the existence of Central American interests, and for this
reason they have not produced the best results. The history of our
political life is full of documents of this class, which confirm the
idea that I have just expressed, and whose teaching ought to serve for a
guide to open a new horizon to the country, and to make the union
something more than an ideal conception—to make it indeed a practical
fact manifested by the uniformity of sentiments, of principles, and of
rules, which may tend to produce the most positive results in the ruling
politics of the Central American States. I am inspired by the persuasion
that the future peace of Central America depends in a great measure on
the good faith and harmony which may direct and sustain the political
relations between the government of Guatemala and Salvador, because in
attention to the conditions existing in both these States, it is
undeniable that it would be easy to avoid the conflicts which may
interrupt that blessing so ardently desired by all lovers of order and
patriotism.
I believe that when all these sections are bound together in relations of
mutual interest and convenience, when the frontiers shall have
disappeared, when unity of sentiment shall be a consequence of the
assimilation of their rights and natural interests; and, in fine, when
in their common behavior toward one another concord and true friendship
reign, that will be the epoch which shall inaugurate the grand fact of
the unity of Central America. Then will sound the hour of her fortune
and progress, and we shall have the satisfaction of having offered the
example of a perseverance for the accomplishment of so glorious a
result. Meanwhile the part which falls to us to represent is that of the
guardians of the peace and tranquillity of Central America.
Your government being the initiator of such noble ideas, I am pleased to
assure it that it shall continue to find on my part the most complete
assistance; and the Salvadorian people adopt those ideas with the most
enthusiastic applause, because they see in an epoch not far distant the
satisfaction of a desire which was the aspiration of many of their
predecessors, who died with the grief of not having realized it.
I see, with great satisfaction, your appointment; and the gifts which
adorn you, and the ancient friendship which unites us, will be another
guarantee to fix and maintain the good relations which exist between the
two governments.
The circumstance of fixing the residence of the legation in this capital
is a distinction expressive of cordial affection that once more calls
for my recognition and consideration, desiring that your stay in this
country may be agreeable in the extreme.
I give my sincerest wishes for the happiness and prosperity of the
Republic of Guatemala, and congratulate the worthy chief who has
distinguished you with the high mission of representing him in the other
States in the character of minister plenipotentiary.
