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Doc. No. 75. 



receipt of communications from the above named official, making all 

 kinds of demands, and loaded with threats in case they are not complied 

 -vi^ith. # # * # # # 



He has demanded, amongst other things, the immediate payment of cer- 

 tain debts of the State due to British subjects, the liquidation of which 

 has already been provided for, with Mr. Chatfield's approval, by the ap- 

 propriation of all the revenues of the State. To give efficacy to this de- 

 mand, a steamer of war and a frigate have been ordered before Realejo, 

 the principal port of this State on the Pacific, and their arrival is expected 

 in the course of a lew weeks. My information upon the point is positive. 



I have received through the hands of the British vice consul a certified 

 copy of a communication from the consul general, addressed to this gov- 

 ernment, in which it is informed that it must bear in mind that the pay- 

 ment of the bond debt and of Reids, Irving, & Co.'s must be provided for, 

 in any arrangement that the government is inclined to make for opening 

 a canal or constructing a line of communication across the territory of the 

 State." 1 have paid no attention to this letter. I have also received 

 from the same an official communication designed to draw out a reply, 

 which might place me in a false position towards some influential mem- 

 bers of the government. Under the circumstances, 1 thought proper to 

 dismiss it in a summary manner. The correspondence (although of shght 

 importance) is appended, (C.) Costa Rica, although there has, as yet, 

 been no public declaration to that eff'ect, and notwithstanding the declar- 

 ation of her representative in England, has oflered to place herself under 

 British protection, and I have no doubt the offer has been accepted. Mr. 

 Castellon writes positively to this effect. If further evidence was needed 

 upon this point, it is afforded in the recent proposition to this government 

 made by the British vice-consul, Mr. Manning, off'ering $100,000 for the 

 relinquishment of the claims of Nicaragua over the territories on the Pa- 

 cific and the St. John's, to which Costa Rica has recently set up preten- 

 sions. This off'er was ostensibly made on the part of Costa Rica; but 

 that State has no $100,000 to give, even to preserve her own nationality. 

 # # # # * # 



The departQient will pardon me for dweUing so much upon the designs 

 of the English and their movements. It is impossible for any one not on 

 the spot to discover or appreciate their extent and intricacy. Their con- 

 suls at every prominent point keep each other constantly apprized of what 

 is going on, and no expense is spared to sustain, and no opportunity neg- 

 lected to promote, the interests of Great Britain and her subjects. There 

 is much to admire in the efficiency of the organization which they keep 

 up; its perversion is the only subject of complaint. On the other hand, 

 the persons to whom the interests of the United States have hitherto been 

 intrusted, with scarce an exception, seem to have regarded their residence 

 here as a kind of banishment, and so far from availing themselves of the 

 favorable disposition towards the United States, have betrayed an indif- 

 ference to the objects of their missions eminently culpable. In a country 

 where intercommunication is so difficult as here, and where it requires 

 from 60 to 90 days to procure replies to letters sent from one extreme to 

 the other, it is of the first importance that oar consuls and commercial 

 agents should be men who have some regard for their offices besides the 

 local immunities which they confer. They should be taught to regard it 

 as an important part of their duties to have free and full communication 



