Mr. Mizner to Mr. Blaine.
Guatemala, December 31, 1890. (Received January 16, 1891.)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your delayed dispatch No. 206 of the 18th of last month and to report that I have this day turned over the legation to Mr. Kimberly, as chargé d’affaires.
I am also in receipt of a copy of the President’s annual message, delivered to the present session of Congress, in which my official services in the recent establishment of peace between these Republics is approved and I am complimented by title in the following words:
The peace of Central America has again been disturbed through a revolutionary change in Salvador which was not recognized by other states, and hostilities broke out between Salvador and Guatemala, threatening to involve all Central America in conflict and to undo the progress which had been made toward a union of their interests.
The efforts of this Government were promptly and zealously exerted to compose their differences, and through the active efforts of the representative of the United States [Mr. Mizner] provisional treaty of peace was signed August 26.
I am at a loss to know how in the next sentence my conduct of a mere incident of that war—the attempted arrest of a single person—should meet with the President’s disapproval, when it is remembered that the incident occurred on the 27th of August, the very day when the first condition of the bases of peace, to wit, the retiring of the armies from the frontiers in 48 hours, was about to be carried out under my direction as dean of the diplomatic corps, necessitating my constant presence at the legation to compose any difficulties that might arise; and, as a matter of fact, several complaints were presented to me in writing by these governments charging bad faith, which were arranged to the satisfaction of all.
On the 25th of August the two hostile armies, estimated at 10,000 on a side, after several severe battles, confronted each other on the frontier, awaiting the efforts of the diplomatic corps to effect a basis [Page 145] of peace, which, as stated by the President, was consummated through the active efforts of the representative of the United States (Mr. Mizner) on the next day; so that on the 27th, 28th, and 29th of August the all-absorbing question was peace to over two millions of people, and the arrest of a citizen of Guatemala on one of our merchant ships, either in time of war or peace, was an inconsiderable matter compared with the vast interests involved, as no one could possibly foresee that the person to be arrested would resist, nor could it be supposed that the person was armed and would first fire upon his benefactor, the captain of the ship, or that any fatality whatever would occur.
A resolution of the Lower House of Congress having been passed in October last calling for the papers in the case, it is to be regretted that action was taken in the matter before that committee had an opportunity to report, as I am absolutely certain that a full investigation of the case before that committee, including my presence before it, if necessary, would have explained everything to its entire satisfaction.
It will ever be a consolation to me, compensating for the President’s disapproval of the attempted arrest of a single person on one of our merchant vessels in local waters, whether in war or in peace, that I was largely instrumental in retiring two hostile armies to their quiet homes, thus saving thousands of human lives, averting untold disaster, and restoring harmony and good will to neighboring states. To the statement of the President that the attempted arrest was in violation of precedent, permit me to say, with all due respect, that I considered the law correctly laid down by your immediate predecessor, Mr. Bayard, when he said:
It is clear that Mr. Gomez voluntarily entered the jurisdiction of the country whose laws he had violated. Under the circumstances, it was plainly the duty of the captain of the Honduras to deliver him up to the local authorities upon their request.
Gomez was a citizen of, and a political offender against the laws of Nicaragua. No charge of other crimes being made against him, the captain of the steamer on which he entered the local waters had made no request upon anyone concerning him, yet Mr. Bayard said “it was plainly the duty of the captain to give him up to the local authorities.”
Barrundia was a citizen and a political offender against the laws of Guatemala. Besides being indicted for common crimes, he voluntarily came into the jurisdiction of Guatemala on the merchant steamer Acapulco. The authorities sought to arrest him; the captain of the ship asked me to instruct him; I advised him as follows:
If your ship is within 1 league of the territory of Guatemala and you have on board General Barrundia, it becomes your duty, under the law of nations, to deliver him to the authorities of Guatemala upon their demand.
If there is any difference between the two cases, it is in favor of the right of Guatemala to have made the arrest on the ground of his being both a political and common-crimes offender, and sustains me in giving the advice, as it was earnestly sought by the master of the Apaculco; while in the Gomez case the captain of the Honduras was silent.
The details in both the Gomez and Barrundia cases were to have been left to the respective captains and local consuls, as it would be impossible for a minister, being hundreds of miles away, to give personal attention to such arrests.
In the President’s first annual message to Congress it was said that “diplomacy should be frank and free from intrigue,” thereby implying it had not been so in the past; if, as must be conceded, Guatemala had the undoubted right to arrest Barrundia, would it have been “frank” [Page 146] to have thrown any obstacles in the way of the exercise of that right? On the contrary, would it not have been “intrigue” to have abetted the captain of the Acapulco in evading elementary international law, as we exercise the right to arrest all kinds of offenders on foreign merchant ships when in our ports?
On the 4th of July last Captain Pitts permitted the authorities of Salvador to arrest Señor Delgado, the minister of foreign relations of that Republic, and take him against his will from the steamer Acapulco, as per affidavit sent you. It would seem that the same privilege should have been extended to Guatemala.
These republics have in the most emphatic manner, in banquets and written communications, thanked me for our good offices in making peace, in which the people, almost en masse, have joined.
The entire diplomatic corps in Central America, excepting the representatives from Mexico, have in writing indorsed my course in the Barrundia case.
Believing that under all the circumstances I acted in strict accordance with the law of nations, and being absolutely certain of the rectitude of my own intentions, I submit my action and unprecedented treatment to the considerate judgment of my countrymen.
Trusting that this communication may have the same publicity and place in the permanent diplomatic records of the nation as that accorded to your dispatch,
I have, etc.,