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Doc. No. 75. 



canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; but for a variety of rea- 

 sons all have proved unsuccessful. In fact; none of these attempts were 

 made under circumstances which justified the remotest hope of success, 

 A work of such magnitude, in a foreign country little knoAvn, and dis- 

 tracted by civil commotionsj could not be seriously undertaken, except 

 under the most favorable conjunction of circumstances, and under the most 

 solemn guarantees Irom one or more of the great maritime powers of the 

 globe. Such a conjunction of circumstances has occurred, and the 

 United States of North America, for reasons Avhich you can well under- 

 stand, has become sufficiently interested in the construction of this work 

 to extend the necessary guarantees to those who shall undertake it. An 

 American company, having the full confidence of their government, and 

 composed of the largest capitalists of the continent, have obtained from 

 the government of Nicaragua a most favorable, and at the same time a 

 reciprocally just contract for the construction of this canal. I have also' 

 on behalf of my government pledged the faith of the United States for 

 the protection of this company in all its rights, and under the same au- 

 thority have recognised the sovereignty of Nicaragua over the line of the 

 canal, and guaranty the neutrality of the same. This protection and 

 guarantee is no less against domestic than foreign disturbance and inva- 

 sion. This intervention of the United States has been made from no 

 selfish considerations; it has not exacted, therefore, any exclusive privi- 

 leges; but has been actuated only by a sentiment of the highest philan- 

 thropy, and a desire to nisure the construction of a work which shall 

 confer upon mankind the greatest benefits. Any advantages which shall 

 accrue to American citizens over those of other nations, can only result 

 from their superior enterprise, sagacity, and industry. 



It is stipulated in the contract and treaty that the canal, when con- 

 structed, shall be free to the citizens of all nations, on the same term» 

 with those of the United States, with the sole proviso that such nations 

 shall first enter into the sam.e treaty stipulations and guarantees respect- 

 ing such canal as have been entered into by the United States. What 

 those stipulations and guarantees are, I have already indicated. 



Although matters of this kind are usually kept secret by the contract- 

 ing parties until they have been fully perfected; still, as the policy of the 

 United States is as open and frank as it is honest and sincere, I have no 

 hesitation in advising you of what is transpiring, in the hope that, if yon 

 should feel yourself authorized to do so, you may take immediate mea- 

 sures to place France upon an equal footing with the United States. I 

 will not take it upon myself to do more than to suggest, if you should not 

 consider yourself able to act definitively in the matter, that you will com- 

 municate with your government, and solicit its early attention to the 

 subject. I shall address my friend Mr. Poussin, French minister in the 

 United States, to the same effect; but it is probable that considerable 

 time must elapse before I shall be able to communicate with him, in con- 

 sequence of the difficulty of forwarding letters and despatches from this 

 point. 



There is another reason, which no doubt will occur to you at once^ 

 why it is desirable that no delay should arise in perfecting the arrange- 

 ments which I have, perhaps too sanguinely, indulged the hope might 

 be made, on the part of the French republic, in regard to the important 

 matter above referred to. To the pretensions which Great Britain has 

 set up on what is denominated the Mosquito coast; pursuing the 



