File No. 817.812/153
The Secretary of State to
the Minister of Costa Rica
No. 8
Department of State,
Washington,
March 1, 1916.
Sir: I have the honor of acknowledging the
receipt of your notes of February 2, 8 and 21, 1916, in which you again
protest on behalf of your Government against the treaty between the
Government of Nicaragua and that of the United States, which was
ratified by the United States Senate on February 18, 1916.
The views of the Department regarding the protest of Costa Rica against
the treaty under consideration were set forth, at some length, in the
Department’s note of August 1, 1914,8
to Senor Don Joaquin Bernardo Calvo, then Minister of Costa Rica to the
United States. Those views are believed to be applicable equally to the
present protest, as embodied in your several notes under acknowledgment.
I reiterate what was then said, namely, that the treaty was not designed
and is not believed to infringe any right or interest of Costa Rica, or
of any of the countries adjacent to Nicaragua. In this relation permit
me to call your attention to a provision in the resolution of
ratification of the convention passed by the United States Senate on
February 18, 1916, as follows:
Provided: That whereas Costa Rica,
Salvador, and Honduras have protested against the ratification
of said convention in the fear or belief that said convention
might in some respect impair existing rights of said States,
therefore it is declared by the Senate that in advising and
consenting to the ratification of the said convention as amended
such advice and consent are given with the understanding, to be
expressed as a part of the instrument of ratification, that
nothing in said convention is intended to affect any existing
right of any of the said named States.
In the light of the declarations of the Departments in its note of August
1, 1914, referred to, and of the aforesaid explicit declaration by
Congress, I am unable to perceive any ground for protest on the part of
your Government.
In conclusion I beg leave to remind you that on December 1, 1900,
Nicaragua and Costa Rica each executed a separate protocol of an
agreement with the United States, whereby each of the said Governments
separately became engaged to enter into negotiations with
[Page 821]
the United States to settle
the details of agreements found necessary to accomplish the ownership
and control by the United States of an interoceanic canal route from San
Juan del Norte to the Pacific Ocean. The agreement contemplated by the
said protocol with Nicaragua has in part at least been embodied in the
treaty under discussion, and, since the Government of the United States
has indicated its willingness to enter into negotiations for the
concluding of a treaty of similar nature with the Government of Costa
Rica, I am not able to perceive wherein the treaty which has been
concluded with Nicaragua can be thought to effect adversely any existing
right of the neighboring Republics or to indicate an intent upon the
part of the United States to ignore the Government of Costa Rica.
Accept [etc.]
[Note.—The protocol of December 1, 1900,
referred to above follows.]
[Inclosure 1]
Treaty Series No. 64
PROTOCOL OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED
STATES AND OF COSTA RICA IN REGARD TO FUTURE NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION OF AN INTEROCEANIC CANAL BY WAY OF LAKE
NICARAGUA
Signed at Washington, December 1, 1900.
It is agreed between the two Governments that when the President of
the United States is authorized by law to acquire control of such
portion of the territory now belonging to Costa Rica as may be
desirable and necessary on which to construct and protect a canal of
depth and capacity sufficient for the passage of vessels of the
greatest tonnage and draft now in use, from a point near San Juan
del Norte on the Caribbean Sea, via Lake Nicaragua to Brito on the
Pacific Ocean, they mutually engage to enter into negotiations with
each other to settle the plan and the agreements, in detail, found
necessary to accomplish the construction and to provide for the
ownership and control of the proposed canal.
As preliminary to such future negotiations it is forthwith agreed
that the course of said canal and the terminals thereof shall be the
same that were stated in a treaty signed by the Plenipotentiaries of
the United States and Great Britain on February 5, 1900, and now
pending in the Senate of the United States for confirmation, and
that the provisions of the same shall be adhered to by the United
States and Costa Rica.
In witness whereof, the undersigned have signed this protocol and
have hereunto affixed their seals.
Done in duplicate at Washington this first day of December, 1900.
John Hay
[
seal]
J. B. Calvo
[
seal]
[Inclosure 2]
Treaty Series No. 260
PROTOCOL OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED
STATES AND OF NICARAGUA IN REGARD TO FUTURE NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE
CONSTRUCTION OF AN INTEROCEANIC CANAL BY WAY OF LAKE
NICARAGUA
Signed at Washington December 1, 1900.
It is agreed between the two Governments that when the President of
the United States is authorized by law to acquire control of such
portion of the territory now belonging to Nicaragua as may be
desirable and necessary on
[Page 822]
which to construct and protect a canal of depth and capacity
sufficient for the passage of vessels of the greatest tonnage and
draft now in use, from a point near San Juan del Norte on the
Caribbean Sea, via Lake Nicaragua to Brito on the Pacific Ocean,
they mutually engage to enter into negotiations with each other to
settle the plan and the agreements, in detail, found necessary to
accomplish the construction and to provide for the ownership and
control of the proposed canal.
As preliminary to such future negotiations it is forthwith agreed
that the course of said canal and the terminals thereof shall be the
same that were stated in a treaty signed by the plenipotentiaries of
the United States and Great Britain on February 5, 1900, and now
pending in the Senate of the United States for confirmation, and
that the provisions of the same shall be adhered to by the United
States and Nicaragua.
In witness whereof, the undersigned have signed this protocol and
have hereunto affixed their seals.
Done in duplicate at Washington, this first day of December,
1900.
John Hay
[
seal]
Luis F. Corea
[
seal]
