164 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



over the Mosquito Indians, and asked only for the Nicaraguan 

 observance of the Managua treaty to offer Great Britain the 

 opportunity she desired to withdraw from the affairs of the 

 Indian reservation. 



For some years Mosquitia continued to prosper under 

 British rule. The increasing number of American immi- 

 grants to Bluefields contributed a decided American flavor 

 to Mosquito politics. Although British influence remained 

 paramount, this fact was more than ever manifested in^lS^ 

 when the Mosquito authorities placed a duty upon importa- 

 tions received at Bluefields in excess of specified rates pre- 

 viously fixed by treaty between Nicaragua and the United 

 States, Nicaragua having become unable to abide by her 

 tariff pledges to the United States, as her own sovereignty 

 along the coast had been entirely suspended. The Mosquito 

 iff act presented an auspicious occasion to Nicaragua to 

 reopen the old controversy with Great Britain ; a correspon- 

 dence ensued, in which the United States was necessarily 

 soon involved. In a letter to the American Minister in Lon- 

 don, the Secretary of State, Mr. Foster, declared with great 

 emphasis, that Nicaragua's sovereignty over Mosquitia had 

 not been impaired ; her concessions to Great Britain being, 

 in their nature, tribal and not territorial. "A suppositi- 

 tious Mosquitia is not to be arbitrarily substituted for the 

 territory allotted to and reserved for the residence of the 

 Mosquito Indians by the sovereign." u The United States 

 cannot look with favor upon any attempt, however indirect, 

 on the part of Great Britain to render illusory the sover- 

 eignty of the Republic of Nicaragua over the Mosquito 

 Indians and the territory reserved for their dwelling." A 

 lengthy discussion might have resulted, which would no doubt 

 have brought forth much learning upon the subject of suze- 

 rain rights, had not more stirring events in Mosquitia sud- 

 denly diverted attention, from academic debates between 

 London and Washington, to the consideration of an imme- 

 diate military interference on the spot. In the usual course 

 of Central American history, Nicaragua and Honduras, along 

 ^ with most of the adjoining states, became involved in war. 



\\ 



