File No. 3691/44AB.
President Roosevelt to the President of Nicaragua.a
It is with great regret that I have received information that the tribunal of arbitration between Nicaragua and Honduras, recently sitting in Salvador, has dissolved owing to the tribunal’s belief that one or both of the countries, parties to the arbitration, had failed to desist from warlike preparations pending the arbitration.
I beg to express to your excellency the strong hope of the United States that this deplorable event may prove to have resulted from some misunderstanding easily removed, and that the tribunal may be reconstituted or a new tribunal provided which shall sit under rules fully understood and complied with by both parties to the controversy so that peace, with all its blessings, may be preserved, not only for Nicaragua and Honduras, but for all the States of America.
The cause of humanity, the benefits of peaceful intercourse through which the prosperity of each of our Republics contributes to the prosperity of all, and the friendship we all have for both the countries immediately involved, lead us to urge this course upon you with earnestness and with respect and esteem.
In this I am assured of identical views and feelings on the part of the Governments of Mexico, Guatemala, San Salvador, and Costa Rica. I am sending a similar telegram to the President of Honduras.
- Mutatis Mutandis to the President of Honduras.↩