File No. 817.00/1773.
The American Minister to
the Secretary of State.
No. 24.]
American Legation,
Managua,
April 19, 1912.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a
copy and translation of a communication, dated the 16th instant, sent to
me by Don Diego Manuel Chamorro, the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
regarding the so-called Dawson agreements.
Shortly after receiving my reply yesterday Señor Chamorro, accompanied by
Dr. J. A. Urtecho, the Undersecretary of the Foreign Office, who is a
close personal and political friend, called at the Legation and said
that he wished to discuss the matter with me more at length, and that
although my note was very courteous and very good of its kind I had
failed to express therein any opinion on the question which he had
raised and which is now agitating all Nicaragua, namely free
elections.
I told him that my reply was not intended at all to be perfunctory but
rather to give a concise statement of my views concerning the Nicaragua
situation, to wit that politics be kept in the background until the
economic situation shall have been cleared and the country established
on a sound financial basis.
He replied by giving the facts of various political intrigues, the
relations between President Díaz and General Mena, and the attitude of
General Emiliano Chamorro.
I thanked him for the information volunteered so frankly and added that I
felt obliged to continue the policy announced by the Legation at the
time I took charge, that is, to devote all my attention for the present
to matters connected with the proper working out of the loan
arrangement, and with that idea in mind it seemed to me inadvisable to
complicate the situation by the injection of politics or personalities,
for although conditions are, unsatisfactory they are conceded to be far
better than under the Zelaya régime, they have already reflected the
beneficient results of the recent currency legislation and they give
every promise of still greater improvement when [Page 1021] the National Bank shall have been established and
the new Nicaraguan money put in circulation.
I have [etc.]
[Inclosure 1.]
The Minister for Foreign
Affairs to the American
Minister.
[Translation.]
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Managua,
April 16, 1912.
Mr. Minister: On October 27, 1910, at the
close of the revolution which was set on foot against the tyrannical
Government established by the Liberal party of Nicaragua, the
principal leaders in command who carried to a successful conclusion
that movement of political, social and economic regeneration,
celebrated and signed, at the instance of the Honorable Thomas 0.
Dawson, Special Commissioner of the North American Government near
the Government of Nicaragua, and moved by a highly patriotic
sentiment, four Conventions known by the name of Dawson Agreements
and attested by the signatures of the Honorable Thomas C. Dawson and
of Mr. Thomas P. Moffat, Consul of the United States in this
country, which said Agreements were the subject of a note dated
November 10,1 1910, from this Ministry addressed by my
distinguished predecessor, Don Tomás Martínez, to the Special
Commissioner, Thomas C. Dawson.
The first of said Agreements stipulates the convocation of a
Constituent Assembly which, in conformity with the said agreements,
assembled in December, 1911 [1910], and elected as President and
Vice President General Juan J. Estrada and Adolfo Díaz respectively.
According to Article 3 of the above-mentioned document, the signers
solemnly obligated themselves in the presence of the representatives
of the United States to convoke the Nicaraguan people for the
election of the Constitutional President for the period following
that previously mentioned, this being the political basis agreed
upon and accepted by the leaders of the Government for the
reorganization of the Republic.
By the Second Agreement it was agreed that all unsettled claims
proceeding from the annulment of contracts and concessions
associated with the previous régime of Nicaragua, would be submitted
to the impartial examination of a Mixed Commission, appointed by the
Government of this Republic in accord with that of the United
States. In the same way the obligation was imposed to prosecute and
punish those responsible for the death of the Americans, Cannon and
Groce, and, concerning the indemnity that must be paid to the
families of both victims, to await the result of these
proceedings.
By the Third Agreement, the Government of Nicaragua obligated itself
to solicit the good offices of the American Government for the
rehabilitation of the public finances and the payment of legitimate
claims, foreign as well as national, by means of the negotiation of
a loan in the United States, which would be guaranteed by a certain
percentage of the customs receipts of the Republic.
By the Fourth and last Agreement, the obligation was fixed to
designate at their opportunity and by a majority of votes of the
signers a candidate for Constitutional President of the Republic and
another for Vice-President, corresponding to the period following
the Presidency pro tempore of General Juan J. Estrada, the chosen
one being obliged to represent the revolution and the Conservative
party, and the subscribers promising that, in addition to the
established laws guaranteeing a free election, there would be no
concentration of armed forces of the Government in any part of the
Republic other than shall be necessary for the preservation of order
and proper policing, and there will be absolute exclusion of the
Zelayista element in the new formation of the Government.
Permit me, in addition, to mention that in January of the current
year, shortly after the promulgation of the present Constitution,
the then Chargé of your Legation, the Honorable Franklin Mott
Gunther, communicated to this Ministry the cablegram from his
excellency, the Secretary of State of the [Page 1022] United States, in which the binding character
of these Agreements was confirmed in an unequivocal manner, and the
Chargé instructed to give official notification of this resolution
to the personnel of the Executive Power.
After having religiously observed the provisions of the several
Agreements which I have mentioned at length to you, namely the
convocation of the National Constituent Assembly, the creation of
the Mixed Commission, the negotiation of an American loan; and the
Government of Nicaragua being animated by the firm purpose of
fulfilling faithfully and honorably its international obligations,
and also by the natural desire to put into practice the solemn
promises which the revolution made to the country, the execution of
which promises is considered to be the means most appropriate to
assure in an efficient manner the peace, the domestic tranquility
and the administrative progress of the Republic—my Government
believes that, on account of the approaching end of the provisional
period of which the First Agreement speaks, and the necessity of
calling an election some months before the date thereof, the’ time
indicated in the Fourth Agreement has arrived for proceeding to the
designation of candidates for President and Vice-President during
the next Constitutional period, thus conforming to the bases fixed
in the Dawson Agreements, to the intention of those who signed them,
and to the good faith and authority of the Honorable Thomas C.
Dawson and of the Consul of the United States of America, Thomas P.
Moffat.
In bringing the above to the knowledge of your excellency I am
obeying the instructions of the President, and I have [etc.],
[Inclosure 2.]
The American Minister
to the Minister for Foreign
Affairs.
American Legation,
Managua,
April 18, 1912.
Dear Mr. Minister: In acknowledging the
receipt of your courteous note of the 16th instant in which at the
direction of His Excellency, the President of Nicaragua, you refer
to the Dawson agreements, I beg to assure you of my appreciation of
the importance of your communication, and its significance for both
Nicaragua and the United States. Accordingly I am forwarding it by
the first mail to the Department, and I shall be glad to apprise you
promptly of the reply.
I notice that your excellency has given first importance, as do the
agreements themselves, to the settlement of the economic situation
before discussing the political conditions. This is all the more
gratifying to me because it accords with the view of my Government
that the loan, currency and bank problems, about which there is no
difference of opinion among those who are honestly working for the
welfare of Nicaragua, should be disposed of before attention is
directed to other questions.
This view held by your Government and by mine, and by those
interested in making the above-mentioned agreements, seems amply
justified by the beneficent results already attained, and therefore
it is to be hoped that the present program will be continued until
it is completed by the establishment of the proposed national bank,
the issue of the new money, and the placing of the country on a
sound financial basis.
With assurances [etc.],
