Mr. Merry to Mr. Hay.
San José, Costa Rica, August 31, 1904.
Sir: I have the honor to advise that on the 21st instant, at Corinto, Nicaragua, the Presidents of Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador, and a special delegate representing the President of Guatemala, held a conference ostensibly for the purpose of securing the peace of Central America. * * *
The parties holding the conference have issued a lengthy manifesto, which indicates nothing of interest to our Government except that the four governments represented are controlled by parties who will aid each other by military force, if necessary, in maintaining the status quo, and that the peace of Central America is thus reasonably assured by making revolutionary efforts more difficult and less liable to achieve success.
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With assurances, etc.,