Doc. No. 75. 



Mr. Salinas, the Secretary of Foreign Relations of Nicaragua, in his 

 letter of the 17th of March, 1848, to Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary of 

 State of the United States, fully sets forth the alleged aggressions of the 

 British government, in seizing upon the territory of Nicaragua in the 

 name of their ally, the Mosquito King. No answer was given to this 

 tetter. 



Joseph W. Livingston, who, on the 28th day of October, 1847, was 

 appointed consul of the United States for the port of San Juan de 

 Nicaragua, addressed an ofScial letter to Mr. Buchanan, Secretary of 

 -State, bearing date the 16th day of December of the same year, a copy 

 of which is herewith submitted, representing that he had received in- 

 formation that the British government had it in contemplation to seize 

 the port of San Juan in January following. In another communication 

 dated the 8th day of April, 1848, Mr. Livingston states: At the request 

 of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I transmit a package of papers con- 

 taining the correspondence relative to the occupation of the port of San 

 Juan by British forces, in the name of the Mosquito nation." No mea- 

 sures were adopted by the government of the United States in conse- 

 quence of this information. 



Elijah Hise, having been appointed charge d'affaires of the United 

 States to Guatemala, received his instructions on the 3d day of June, 

 1848, (a copy of which is herewith transmitted,) in which it is declared 

 that the independence, as well as the interests of the nations on this 

 continent, require that they should maintain the American system of 

 policy entirely distinct from that which prevails in Europe. To suffer 

 any interference, on the part of the European governments, with the 

 domestic concerns of the American republics, and to permit them to es- 

 tablish new colonies upon this continent, would be to jeopard their in- 

 dependence and to ruin their interests. . These truths ought, everywhere 

 throughout this continent, to be impressed on the public mind. But 

 what can the United States do to resist such European interference, 

 whilst the Spanish American republics continue to weaken themselves 

 by division and civil war, and deprive themselves of the ability of doing 

 anything for their own protection?" This last significant inquiry would 

 seem to disclose the true reason for the omission to interfere, afte;* notice 

 of the course pursued by the British government in extending the limits 

 of the Mosquito protectorate in (central America. These instructions, 

 after stating the dissolution of the Central American republic, formerly 

 composed of the five States of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, San 

 Salvador, and Guatemala, and their continued separation^ authorize Mr. 

 Hise to conclude treaties of commerce and navigation with the States of 

 Guatemala and San Salvador; but conclude by saying that it was not 

 deemed advisable to empower him to negotiate with the States of Nica- 

 ragua, Costa Rica or Honduras, until he should have communicated to 

 the Department of State more full and statistical information than that 

 which it then possessed." 



The'States of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras, are the only States 

 of Central America whose consent or co-operation would, in any event, 

 be necessary for the construction of the ship canal contemplated between 

 the two oceans, by way of Lake Nicaragua. 



In October, 1848, Mr. Osma, minister from Poru to Great Britain, while 

 in Washington, gave information to Mr. Buchauc^n; Secretary of State^ 



