File No. 3691/58.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guatemala to the Secretary of State.
I have the honor to inform your excellency that the following telegraphic dispatches have been received:
[From Tegucigalpa, February 9, 1907.]
To President Manuel Estrada Cabrera, Guatemala:
I have had the satisfaction to receive Your Excellency’s courteous cablegram, dated yesterday, by which, in compliance with the friendly motion of the Presidents of the United States and of Mexico, you urge my Government to defer to a pacific settlement with the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua through the tribunal of arbitration organized in accordance with the pact of Corinto. I discharge the pleasant duty of first telling Your Excellency how grateful my Government and the people of Honduras are for your highly valuable and cordial mediation in the difference which now stands between my Government and that of the sister Republic of Nicaragua, which mediation I appreciate to its full high value, both for its source and the brotherly channel through which it is tendered to me. A sincere friend of peace, I myself proposed arbitration as soon as the occasion arose which might originate a rupture. The arbitration once accepted by both contending parties, the Government of Honduras yielded to each and every one of the measures directed by the tribunal of arbitrators, consistently with its great desire not to omit any means of maintaining peace. As soon as the honorable tribunal of arbitrators decided that the armies of both countries be disarmed and disbanded, my Government promptly declared its concurrence in the decision and readiness to act in accordance, thus complying with article 11 of the treaty of Corinto interpreted, in its spirit, by that enlightened body. Unfortunately, the Government of Nicaragua, eluding the compromise it had entered into, refused to accept those conditions, as if foreseeing the rendering of the arbitral award, denying to the tribunal any right of interpretation. This was the reason that brought about the decision of that institution to declare itself dissolved, which it did yesterday between 4 and 5 p.m., considering that the stubborn refusal of one of the parties made its labors useless and the execution of the future award illusory. As you may see, the Government of Honduras has not been and never will be an obstacle in the way of the maintenance of peace, and if it does not pay prompt attention to your friendly initiative, it is because the dissolution of the tribunal for the causes above stated leaves no room for the realization of the generous wishes Your Excellency is pleased to declare in regard to the pacific and honorable settlement of the pending difficulties. I renew to Your Excellency my high consideration, and am your most affectionate servant and true friend.
F. Manuel Bonilla.
[Page 622][From Tegucigalpa, February, 1907.]
To the Minister of Foreign Relations, Guatemala:
I have the honor to advise your excellency, for the information of your Government, that owing to the incidents that have arisen between Honduras and Nicaragua, the National Congress of this country issued a decree under date of this day by which the whole Republic is declared to be in a state of siege. On this occasion, I renew to your excellency the assurances of my highest consideration.
(Signed) Augusto C. Coallos.
I have the great honor to be, with full consideration,
Your obedient servant,