No. 542.
Mr. Guzman
to Mr. Bayard.
Philadelphia, September 1, 1887. (Received September 2.)
Sir: I have received a communication from my Government whereby I am informed that during the interview recently had by the President of Nicaragua and the President of Oosta Rica it was agreed to conclude a new boundary treaty, to be submitted by each executive to the congress of his country for ratification. I do not doubt that this matter has already come to the knowledge of your excellency’s Department.
If the treaty in question is ratified, as is to be hoped, by both legislative bodies, the whole question between the two states will be settled, and there will be no occasion for the arbitration provided for by the convention signed at Guatemala on the 24th of December, 1886. In that case, all that will remain for me to do will be to return the thanks of my Government to his excellency the President of the United States for the cordial and friendly manner in which he was pleased to accept the office of arbitrator.
As it is possible, however, that the treaty to which reference has been made may not be ratified by one or both of the congresses, my Government instructs me not to suspend the course of the arbitration concerning the validity or invalidity of the treaty of April 15, 1858, since, in case the convention just signed is not ratified, the question will be in the same condition in which it was previously, and both Nicaragua and Costa Rica will then await the decision which His Excellency President Cleveland may see fit to render.
In bringing the foregoing to your excellency’s notice, I have the honor to sign myself, etc.,