foundations of civilized society, or concerning our own selfpreservation, would warrant any other than a strictly constitutional exercise of power. But I see no such embarrassment in this case. Under the laws of war by virtue of the occupation of one portion of Yucatan - it appears to me that we may perform, in respect to any other portion, every obligation which humanity dictates and enjoins. I have no hesitation, therefore, so far as the right of interposition is concerned, to vote for the second and third sections of the bill, and I am willing to vote for the first section so amended as to make our interposition subordinate to the government of Yucatan, to make it an act of friendship to her, without being an act of hostility to Mexico.

Mr. President, in discussing the bill providing for the satisfaction of certain claims in California, I stated that the Indians in Yucatan were abundantly supplied with arms, and that some of these arms were of British manufacture. I did not intend to intimate that they were furnished by the government of Great Britain, or by agents acting under her direction or authority. I supposed then, as I suppose now, that they were, for the most part, procured from British traders at Balize, in the way of exchange; and I have been confirmed in that belief by an article in a British newspaper published at Kingston, Jamaica, stating that an exterminating war was carried on by the Indians in Yucatan, by means of arms procured from British traders, and condemning the latter for engaging in a traffic which was the source of so much wanton violence and inhumanity.

By another article, taken from the same paper, it appears that a commissioner has been sent from Yucatan to Balize to invoke the observance of treaty-stipulations by Great Britain in respect to the sale of arms and ammunition to the Indians. I will read it to the Senate:

“The Indians had been waging a destructive war with the white inhabitants of the State of Yucatan, and had destroyed the large villages of Ajomeo and Ychmul, and possessed themselves of almost all the

towns to the eastward of Peto and Valladolid. A commissioner has arrived at Balize, Honduras, from Yucatan, to prevent, if possible, the sale of arms or warlike stores to the Indians."

This traffic has been carried on in violation of an ancient treaty with Spain; and not very ancient either. By the treaty of London, 1786, it was expressly stipulated by Great Britain that she would strictly prohibit all her

Subjects from furnishing arms or warlike stores to the Indians in general situated upon the frontiers of the Spanish possessions."

Mr. Sierra, in one of his notes to Mr. Buchanan, states that the British authorities at Balize have consented to prohibit the sale of arms and ammunition to the Indians, though he expresses a doubt whether the assurance will be observed in good faith. I should have inferred, from the assurance thus given, that the obligations of the treaty referred to were recognized as of binding force, though the pledge might have been given from motives of humanity. But I find, by an article in the "Times," a newspaper published at Balize, that the British authorities have refused to recognize the obligation of the treaty of 1786. I will read an extract from it, that what I say may not be misunderstood:

“We understand that Mr. Peon has been appointed by the government of Yucatan, on special mission to her Majesty's superintendent, to claim for his government the benefit of the treaty of 1786, entered into between their Majesties, the kings of Great Britain and Spain. In that treaty there is a clause which would appear to bear directly on the existing state of affairs in Yucatan. It is to the following effect."

Here follows the stipulation which I have quoted. The "Times" then continues:

"We are unable to communicate the grounds on which we learn that her Majesty's superintendent has declined to admit the present applicability of the treaty. It must be, however, known to all, that none of the neighbouring Spanish republics can be properly said to have inherited the rights which the Spanish Crown possessed in this part of the world. As a question of humanity, however, it is much to be desired that all the caution which can be exercised by our merchants should be exercised to prevent powder or arms being sold to the In

dians; and, even as a matter of mercantile speculation, we think that it will usually be of more importance to our trade with Yucatan, to aid in reëstablishing order in that province, by refusing to supply the Indians. We subjoin some further remarks, which we have received on this subject."

These remarks are in the nature of a strong appeal to the humanity of the merchants. It does not appear by this article what effort the British authorities at Balize have made, if any, to prevent the sale of arms and ammunition to the Indians. But it does appear, that they deny the obligation of the treaty of 1786. And, certainly, the inference is, that they have not interposed from motives of humanity, and prohibited the traffic; for, if they had, this appeal by a newspaper to the humanity of the merchants would have been superfluous.

Mr. President, it would be a very harsh judgment to suppose that the British authorities at Balize had encouraged this traffic for the purpose of expelling the Spanish race, and thus facilitating the extension of the dominion of their own sovereign. Even if it were for the interest of Great Britain to do so, such a supposition should not be made without the strongest evidence. But, sir, I do not think it unreasonable or harsh to suppose this contest is encouraged by British traders, who have pecuniary interests there, and whose gains might be increased by the expulsion of the Spanish race; for, in that event, the whole peninsula would fall under the dominion of the Indians. British subjects would more readily gain a foothold there: having once gained it, they would be protected by their government; and it would not be surprising to see the protection of Great Britain extended over the Indian population. It appears to me that we cannot doubt such a probability without wilfully closing our eyes against light. This process of extension is in progress at the very moment when we are discussing and doubting it. Let me state a few facts in reference to the settlement at Balize, to which I have already referred. It was first recog

nized specifically as a British settlement by the treaty of Versailles in 1783, though there is a provision in the tripartite treaty of 1763, (that which terminated the old French war here,) recognizing the right of Great Britain to occupation in that quarter generally. But the treaty of 1783 is the first in which the settlement is distinctly recognized. The right of occupation was given for a specific purpose. It gave only the right to cut logwood, build houses and magazines for the convenience of the workmen and their families, and to enjoy a free fishery for their subsistence on the coast. Great Britain expressly stipulated to demolish all fortifications, if there were any, and to erect no more. The sovereignty of Spain was distinctly reserved. The limits of the territory, in which these advantages were to be enjoyed, were carefully defined. I have traced them on the map, and I find they did not exceed an area of two thousand square miles, if the rivers Hondo and Balize, the northern and southern boundaries, are accurately laid down. By the treaty of 1786 they were extended south to the river Sibun, making, at the utmost, an area of four or five thousand square miles. According to Arrowsmith's "London Atlas," published in 1840, that settlement has an area of fourteen thousand square miles, three times its original extent. Nor is this all. By the "Encyclopædia Britannica,” and Martin's "British Colonies," it is claimed to have an area of more than 62,000 square miles, a surface exceeding that of the entire peninsula of Yucatan. In what direction it is proposed to extend the settlement, in order to comprehend these sixty or seventy thousand square miles of surface, does not appear. It is left in doubt by the respectable authorities I have named, under the most ungeographical declaration that "the inland boundaries are ill defined," though they were most critically defined by the treaties of 1783 and 1786. With this shadowy boundary, which leaves everything undetermined, excepting on the side of the Bay of Honduras, the sea, where nature has drawn a line, which

man cannot make uncertain, it may be defined hereafter according to circumstances. They may be extended north into Yucatan, southwest into Guatemala, or southeast into Honduras, and in the latter case form a junction with the territories of the Mosquito king.

And, by the way, the name of this newly created sovereign reminds me that there are some indications of extension further south, which are not very easily discredited. By the treaty of Versailles, Great Britain stipulated that her subjects should abandon all other portions of the Spanish continent, and retire within the limits of the settlement at Balize. By the treaty of London, she stipulated to evacuate the country of the Mosquitoes eo nomine as well as the continent in general, and the islands adjacent, without exception. I believe she did evacuate them, and I am not aware that she has occupied the country of the Mosquitoes again in her own name. But she has done what is equivalent to occupation: she has taken the king of the Mosquitoes under her protection; she has assumed to define the limits of his dominions; she has given notice to the Central and South American governments, that they are not to interfere with those limits; she has sent ships to the coast, and troops into the interior, maintaining the former there under the name of the Mosquito navy. She is encroaching on the Central American states, attacking forts, appropriating territory, and making war on the people. It is only about a month ago, that we learned she had attacked and taken possession of the town of Nicaragua, and killed some seventy or eighty of the Central Americans. She has recently sent black troops there, not only from Jamaica, but from New Providence, on the confines of Florida, to maintain the authority of the Mosquito king, the chief of a band of naked Indians, himself scarcely more elevated in the social scale than his followers. His throne a sand-hill, his sceptre a reed, his robe a blanket, he puts armies and fleets in motion, speaks to the nations through the mouths of British