170 



CONGRESS. (THE NICARAGUA CANAL.) 



be constructed under the auspices of the Govern- 

 ment of the United States, either directly at its 

 o\\n cost, or by gift or loan of money to indi- 

 viduals or corporations, or through subscription 

 to or purchase of stock or shares; and that, sub- 

 ject to the provisions of the present convention, 

 the said Government shall have and enjoy all the 

 rights incident to such construction, as well as the 

 exclusive right of providing for the regulation and 

 management of the canal. 



" AHT. II. The high contracting parties desir- 

 ing to preserve and maintain the " general prin- 

 ciple " of neutralization established in Article 

 \ III of the Clayton-Bulwer convention, adopt, 

 as the basis of such neutralization, the following 

 rules, substantially as embodied in the convention 

 between Great Britain and certain other powers, 

 signed ;it Constantinople, Oct. 29, 1888, for the 

 free navigation of the Suez Maritime Canal that 

 is to say: 



" ' 1. The canal shall be free and open, in time 

 of war as in time of peace, to vessels of commerce 

 and of war of all nations, on terms of entire 

 equality, so that there shall be no discrimination 

 against* any nation or its citizens or subjects in 

 icspect of the conditions or charges of traffic or 

 otherwise. 



" ' 2. The canal shall never be blockaded, nor 

 shall any right of war be exercised nor any act of 

 hostility be committed within it. 



" ' 3. Vessels of war of a belligerent shall not 

 revictual nor take any stores in the canal except 

 so far as may be strictly necessary, and the transit 

 of such vessels through the canal shall be effected 

 with the least possible delay, in accordance with 

 the regulations in force, and with only such inter- 

 mission as may result from the necessities of the 

 service. Prizes shall be in all respects subject to 

 the same rules as vessels of war of the belligerents. 



" ' 4. No belligerent shall embark or disembark 

 troops, munitions of war, or warlike materials in 

 the canal, except in case of accidental hindrance 

 of the transit, and in such case the transit shall 

 be resumed with all possible dispatch. 



" ' 5. The provisions of this article shall apply 

 to waters adjacent to the canal, within 3 marine 

 miles of either end. Vessels of war of a belligerent 

 shall not remain in such waters longer than 

 twenty-four hours at any one time except in case 

 of distress, and in such case shall depart as soon 

 as possible, but a vessel of war of one belligerent 

 shall not depart within twenty-four hours from 

 the departure of a vessel of war of the other bel- 

 ligerent. 



" ' 6. The plant, establishments, buildings, and 

 all works necessary to the construction, mainte- 

 nance, and operation of the canal shall be deemed 

 to be part thereof, for the purposes of this conven- 

 tion, and in time of war, as in time of peace, shall 

 enjoy complete immunity from attack or injury 

 by belligerents and from acts calculated to impair 

 their usefulness as part of the canal. 



"7. No fortifications shall be erected com- 

 manding the canal or the waters adjacent. The 

 United States, however, shall be at liberty to 

 maintain such military police along the canal as 

 may be necessary to protect it against lawlessness 

 and disorder. 



"ART. III. The high contracting parties will, 

 Immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications 

 of this convention, bring it to the notice of the 

 other powers and invite them to adhere to it. 



AHT. IV. The present convention shall be 

 ratilied by the President of the United States, by 

 and with the ail vice and consent of the Senate 

 thereof, and by her Britannic Majesty: and the 

 ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington or 



at London within six months from the date hereof, 

 or earlier if possible.' 



" In faith whereof the respective plenipotenti- 

 aries have signed this convention and thereunto 

 affixed their seals." 



The House bill was introduced before the nego- 

 tiation of this treaty, but passed after its terms 

 had been made known, and it was urged in the 

 face of the policy which the treaty was designed 

 to carry out. Mr. Hepburn, of Iowa, who was in 

 charge of the measure, said in his speech, May 1 : 



" We are met by another class of gentlemen 

 who say that while this route is practicable, while 

 the canal is needed, while it should be an object 

 of solicitude and fostering care and speedy com- 

 pletion by the Government, yet there are certain 

 difficulties of a diplomatic nature that absolutely 

 prevent us from doing anything. 



" They say truthfully that in 1850 a treaty was 

 negotiated between Great Britain and our coun-. 

 try, popularly known as the Clayton-Bulwer 

 treaty, and that one of its provisions declares that 

 neither party alone, except in conjunction with 

 the other, will secure this water route, or will at- 

 tempt in any way to defend it without the con- 

 sent of the other, and they say these provisions 

 are a barrier, and until that is removed the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States can not in good faith 

 undertake this work. 



" I would not be an authority upon a grave 

 question like this, but I want to call your atten- 

 tion to names of a long list of statesmen who 

 have declared that that instrument the Clayton- 

 Bulwer treaty is not now of operative force 

 against us; that it either had been violated by 

 Great Britain in such degree as to justify us in 

 no longer recognizing its potency, or that it had 

 become obsolete because of the object stated by 

 that treaty having been abandoned by both 

 parties, or that both parties had themselves aban- 

 doned it by making no effort to carry out its pro- 

 visions. 



" In that list of statesmen that have taken one 

 or the other of those positions all insist that at 

 most or at the worst we had the right to declare 

 it void and no longer binding. All of them have 

 gone to that extent. I name Secretary Marcy and 

 President Pierce, Secretary Cass, and every Presi- 

 dent from Pierce down to the present incumbent, 

 excepting Presidents Lincoln and Johnson. 

 Douglas, Marcy, Frelinghuysen, Blaine, and 

 others, all of them have united in saying that we 

 stood to-day in the position, from the acts of other 

 parties, that entitle us to declare that we would 

 no longer be bound by its provisions. 



" But, Mr. Chairman, if this is not true, I in- 

 sist that we occupy that position now before the 

 world that justifies us in caring for our own; in 

 the pursuit of our own supreme interests, to say 

 that that obligation undertaken fifty years ago 

 will no longer bind us. I want to call attention to 

 this fact that while writers upon the subject of in- 

 ternational law tell us that in the letter of the la\v 

 treaties, without there is a limitation as to time 

 stated within them, or without they are carried 

 out and completed, they are irrepealable and are 

 to exist forever. That is the letter of the law, 

 but never its spirit. 



" Look where you can in all the diplomacy of 

 the world, and how many treaties do you find to- 

 day which are fifty years old? All writers say 

 that the right of a nation to del ermine a treaty 

 is always dependent upon the circumstances and 

 environment : that no general law or rule can be 

 established, and that it becomes a question of 

 morals rather than of law, a question of whether 

 the circumstances are such as justify the nation 



