No. 111.
Mr. Hosmer
to Mr. Bayard.
Legation of
the United States, in Central America,
Guatemala, May 9,
1888. (Received May 28.)
No. 809.]Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of
your instructions numbered 563, of March 27, 1888, inclosing a copy of the
memorial of Mr. Sanford Robinson, managing director of the Champerico and
Northern Transportation Company, addressed to you in relation to an alleged
violation of the contract made by the Government of Guatemala with that
railroad by having granted a contract to Messrs. J. L. Bueron and others,
the execution of which would tend towards the ruin of the traffic of the
existing corporation.
In obedience to your instructions, as above, I addressed a note to the
minister of foreign affairs of this Republic on the 26th of April ultimo, a
copy of which I now have the honor to inclose to you, and in which I recall
the attention of the Government of Guatemala to the complaint and protest
which formed the basis of the memorial of Mr. Robinson to you, and the
evident error into which that Government had been led in making the new
contract objected to, by a misapprehension as to the actual distance between
the ports of Champerico and Ocos, and referring to the settlement of the
question of distance by that Government’s
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own expert engineer, Mr. Rockstroh, concluding that
upon a reconsideration of the ease, in the light of a correct measurement as
to relative distance, the Government will cause the opposing contract to be
rescinded.
As yet I have received no written reply to my note, the delay having been
explained by the minister for foreign affairs, in a recent personal
interview, as owing to his waiting for a translation of my note into the
Spanish language
It seemed desirable that I should proceed at first in the manner I have done,
in order to afford the Government the opportunity of correcting an error
which might have occurred through a miscalculation as to distance, and not
with the purpose of dishonoring its obligation under a contract based on
good faith between both parties, and in which the question of a reserved
right of distance on either side of the line was so important a factor, and
which might be regarded indeed as the essence of the contract.
The reply of the minister for foreign affairs may open some other question
relating to the contract; in which case I am amply fortified by your
instructions, which so thoroughly cover every possible point that may be
discussed, and which I shall strictly follow.
Meantime I have thought it proper to advise you of the unofficial action I
have taken, as expressed in my note to the Guatemalan Government.
I have, etc.,
James R. Hosmer,
Chargé d’affaires ad
interim.
[Inclosure in No. 809.]
Mr. Hosmer to
Minister Barrutia.
Guatemala, April 26,
1888.
Mr. Minister: I beg respectfully to recall the
attention of your exelency’s Government to the complaint and protest of
the managing director of the Champerico and Northern Transportation
Company, of Guatemala, against the contract which was made by your
excellency’s Government with Mr. J. L. Bueron and others on the 8th of
November, 1887, approved and ratified by the constituent assembly on
November 14, 1887, and finally approved by the President on December 15
of the same year.
Evidently some mistaken calculation as to measurement must have prevailed
upon your excellency’s Government to grant to others a right which is
clearly in contravention to the express terms of the contract entered
into in good faith by the existing railroad company and the Republic of
Guatemala as far back as March 12, 1881, and on account of the terms and
stipulations of which citizens of the United States invested a large sum
of money in the building and equipment of the road; because it is clear
by the report of Mr. E. Rockstroh, the Government engineer, who was
called upon by the late minister for foreign affairs to give an opinion
in the matter, that the port of Ocos is within the prescribed distance
of 15 leagues, which, according to the terms of the contract, for a
period of twenty-five years from the date of the opening of the road for
traffic, was agreed as the space upon which no other railroad should be
constructed on either side of the line.
Hence it seems to my mind, that the Bueron contract must have been made
under the misapprehension to which I have just alluded as to the
technical point of relative distance. And if your excellency will
carefully examine both Mr. Rockstroh’s expert report and such other data
as may be in the possession of the Government, in regard to the distance
between the ports of Champerico and Ocos, I venture to express the
belief that your excellency’s Government will cause the contract for the
construction of a railroad from the port of Ocos to Quezaltenango to be
rescinded.
As a matter of argument it is net to be presumed that your excellency is
not fully alive to the importance of maintaining inviolate all contracts
which are made by a responsible Government with its own citizens or
those of other countries, or how dangerous to the national credit, both
at home and abroad, would be a violation of
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them on the part of snch a Government. I speak
with pride, as a citizen of the United States, when I emphasize not only
the particularity of my own Government in the faithful performance of
its national obligations, but its earnest desire that all other nations
with whom it has friendly relations should maintain the same respect and
regard for all contracts entered into with the citizens of a friendly
power.
I am confident that in the case in question, although I am not instructed
to officially intervene, my Government would feel greatly pained to
learn that the contract with the Champerico and Northern Transportation
Company of Guatemala, owned and managed by citizens of the United
States, was rendered ineffectual and virtually void by the continuance
of another contraet which to all intents and purposes supercedes it, and
if carried out would destroy its traffic by ruinous competition.
It affords me pleasure, therefore, to anticipate the purpose which must
animate your excellency’s Government upon a careful reconsideration of
the action already taken in causing the contract entered into with
Messrs. Bueron and others, to build a railroad from the port of Ocos to
the city of Quezaltenango, to be rescinded by the honorable constituent
assembly on account of the evident error in the calculation of distance,
which has the effect of practically annulling a previous contract made
in good faith between the Republic of Guatemala and certain citizens of
the United States, and without which reserved right of distance on
either side of the line it would have been impossible to have prevailed
upon capitalists to advance the money to build the road.
I entertain a feeling of confidence, also, that in the exercise of my
good offices in behalf of my fellow-countrymen in the matter which I
have ventured to bring to your excellency’s notice, I will be acquitted
of any presumptuous purpose tending in the remotest degree towards
uncalled-for advice; but realizing to how great an extent the
multifarious duties of your excellency’s exalted position must
necessarily absorb time and thought in their varied exercise, I have
taken the liberty to recall the just cause for complaint and consequent
protest on the part of the Champerico and Northern Transportation
Company to the attention of your excellency’s Government, with its
suggested remedy, and to express my sincere hope and expectation that it
will meet with that ever ready and prompt response which can not fail to
be the purpose of an administration which evidences so earnest a desire
to maintain the integrity of the Republic, and preserve its credit at
home and abroad.
With renewed sentiments, etc.,
James R. Hosmer,
Chargé d’Affaires ad
interim.
