CHAPTER X

THE WASHINGTON CONFERENCE OF 1907

The Increased Responsibilities of the United States in the Caribbean Sea Since 1900--The San José Conference--The War of 1907--The Washington Conference and the Conventions Adopted by it--Their Effectiveness in Promoting Internal and International Peace--Work of the Central American Court--The Central American Conferences and the Central American Bureau.

The first years of the twentieth century have brought about a decided change in the attitude of the United States towards its neighbors around the Caribbean Sea. The increasing importance of our political and economic interests in those countries has made their domestic prosperity and the maintenance of their independence from European influence more than ever before essential to our own well-being. American investments and trade in the West Indies have attained such great proportions that anything which affects the normal life of one of the countries of that region is felt at once in commercial and financial centers in the United States. The sugar plantations of Cuba and the banana plantations of Central America, to take only two examples, represent many millions of dollars of American capital, and at the same time are important sources of the food supply of the American people. Simultaneously with the expansion of our economic interests, our political interests in the Caribbean have become of paramount national importance. The acquisition of Porto Rico, and much more the building of the Panama Canal, have made it impossible for the United States to remain indifferent when international complications arise which affect the military situation or the political status of countries close to these possessions. The Monroe Doctrine, as applied to the American tropics, has thus become more than ever an indispensable national policy.

At the same time, the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine has involved increasingly heavy responsibilities and burdens, because the commercial and financial interests of other countries in the Caribbean have also increased as that region has been developed economically and commercially. Even when they have had no ulterior political motives, the European powers have been unable to stand by with equanimity while the security and the interests of their citizens were endangered by the continual revolutions and other disorders which have occurred in some tropical American states. There has consequently been evident an increasing disposition on their part to use force both to secure protection for their nationals and to obtain the payment of debts due to the latter by irresponsible and unscrupulous governments. To such interventions, which necessarily tend to assume a political character, the United States cannot possibly remain indifferent. Neither, however, can it oppose itself to the protection by another country of the lives and property of the latter’s subjects. European interference in the affairs of American countries can only be averted if the United States itself assumes the duty of protecting foreigners in the more turbulent of the neighboring republics, and the Monroe Doctrine can only be upheld in the long run if intelligent and disinterested efforts are made to help those republics to remedy the conditions which at present expose them to aggression. As President Roosevelt said in 1905:

“We cannot permanently adhere to the Monroe Doctrine unless we succeed in making it evident, in the first place, that we do not intend to treat it in any shape or way as an excuse for aggrandizement on our part at the expense of the Republics to the south of us; second, that we do not intend to permit it to be used by any of these Republics as a shield to protect that Republic from the consequences of its own misdeeds against foreign nations; third, that inasmuch as by this doctrine we prevent other nations from interfering on this side of the water, we shall ourselves in good faith try to help those of our sister republics which need such help, upward toward peace and order.”[45]

The first occasion on which the new policy of the United States became evident in its dealings with the Central American republics was in 1906, when there was a war between Guatemala and Salvador, in which Honduras, as the ally of the latter country, also became involved. The conflict had arisen from the aid furnished by some of the officials of Salvador to a revolutionary movement directed against President Estrada Cabrera. After exerting his influence in vain to prevent the outbreak of hostilities, President Roosevelt invited President Díaz of Mexico to join him in offering mediation. The efforts of the two governments, seconded by those of Costa Rica, resulted in the holding of a peace conference on the deck of the U. S. S. Marblehead, at which representatives of the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua were present, as well as the plenipotentiaries of the three belligerents. At this meeting an agreement was signed providing for the cessation of hostilities and the disarmament of the contending forces, and for another conference, to be held later, to conclude a general treaty of peace.[46]

The second conference was held at San José, Costa Rica, in September of the same year. Each of the Central American republics was invited to send delegates, and all did so with the exception of Nicaragua. President Zelaya declined because he was unwilling to recognize the right of the United States to intervene in Central American affairs.[47] The governments, represented agreed that all differences arising out of the late war should be arbitrated by the United States and Mexico, and that future disputes should be settled by Central American tribunals, specially organized to deal with each case as it arose. They pledged themselves to keep political refugees from other states away from the frontiers of the countries from which they had been exiled, and not to allow their territory to be used as a base for revolutionary movements against their neighbors. Provision was made also for the establishment of a Central American Bureau in Guatemala City and a pedagogical institute in Costa Rica; and general conventions were signed regulating commerce, navigation, and extradition. The work of the San José Conference was superseded by that of the Washington Conference of the following year, when the treaties entered into were reaffirmed and given greater weight by the moral support of the United States and Mexico.[48]

The San José Conference was followed by a year of almost continuous disorder. In December, 1906, a revolution was started in Honduras against the government of Manuel Bonilla. The rebels were operating close to the Nicaraguan boundary, and it was asserted that they were receiving aid from President Zelaya. Whether or not this was so, an alleged violation of Nicaraguan territory by the troops of Honduras soon made war seem inevitable. At the urgent request of the United States and of the other Central American republics, both Zelaya and Bonilla agreed to submit the dispute to the arbitration of a tribunal composed of one member from each Central American republic, which met at once at San Salvador. Before taking up the matter in dispute, this body demanded that both parties withdraw their armies from the border. As Zelaya refused to do this, and furthermore declared in advance that he would not accept any settlement which did not make full reparation for the violation of the Nicaraguan frontier, the tribunal dissolved. Zelaya at once declared war on Honduras, and sent forces to co-operate with the revolutionists there. Salvador, on the other hand, assisted the Bonilla administration, at first indirectly and later by sending troops, although her government remained ostensibly neutral. Despite this aid, Bonilla’s forces were completely defeated at Namasigue, on March 18, 1907, and not long afterward Tegucigalpa and Amapala, where Bonilla made his last stand, were captured by the Nicaraguan troops and the Honduranean revolutionists. Miguel Dávila was inaugurated as provisional president of Honduras.[49]

By this time, another general conflict seemed inevitable. Zelaya was preparing to attack Salvador, and President Estrada of Guatemala, fearing the extension of Nicaraguan influence, was apparently ready to intervene in defense of his neighbor. The United States and Mexico, however, at the request of the governments of Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Salvador, again exerted their good offices, and finally brought about a conference at Amapala between the ministers of foreign affairs of Nicaragua and Salvador. Here, with the assistance of the diplomatic representatives of the United States, an effort was made to settle the differences between these two countries. The chief question at issue was the presidency of Honduras, for Salvador declared that she could not accept terms of peace which did not assure the existence of a government in that Republic which would be satisfactory to her and to Guatemala, which had now become her ally against Zelaya. After a long discussion of various names in an effort to find a candidate who would not only be acceptable to all of the neighboring governments, but who would also be able to maintain himself in power in Honduras, the delegates finally agreed upon General Terencio Sierra, a former president of Honduras, who was then in command of the Nicaraguan forces at Amapala. They accordingly signed a secret treaty, by which they pledged themselves to overthrow the Dávila government and to set up one under Sierra in its place. Nicaragua, however, as the fifth article stated, found it difficult to attack President Dávila, who was her ally, and therefore left this to Salvador. After Dávila was disposed of, both were to join in assisting Sierra, and he was to be considered the ally of both.[50] Having settled this matter, they drew up a general peace treaty.

The terms of these treaties were never carried out. The exigencies of her internal politics prevented Salvador from supporting Sierra, and Dávila was consequently able to establish himself firmly in power. His government, set up by Nicaraguan arms, was of course perfectly acceptable to Zelaya, but the latter nevertheless made the failure of Salvador to carry out the stipulations of the Amapala agreement a pretext for again beginning hostilities against that country. Animated, as he said, by a desire for the union of Central America, he openly aided a revolt against the government of President Figueroa, sending men and supplies to Acajutla on a Nicaraguan gunboat.[51] This expedition was repulsed, and further hostilities were averted by the energetic representations of the United States.

Zelaya’s avowed aggressive designs against the other states, and his control over the government of Honduras, created a situation which was intolerable to Guatemala and Salvador. It was soon evident that these countries were planning to attack him, by the usual means of aiding revolutions in Nicaragua and Honduras. The situation became very threatening in the latter part of the summer of 1907, for the four states were already massing armies on their frontiers. In view of the imminent danger of war, Presidents Roosevelt and Díaz jointly offered their mediation, and brought pressure to bear on the various governments to cease their hostile preparations. As a result, it was agreed that a conference should be held in Washington to settle all outstanding difficulties and permanently to establish the relations of the Central American republics on a peaceful basis. The United States and Mexico were invited to appoint representatives “to lend their good and impartial offices in a purely friendly way towards the realization of the objects of the Conference.”[52]

The delegates of the five Central American countries met in the Bureau of American Republics on November 14, 1907. The United States was represented by Mr. William I. Buchanan, whose tact and perseverance were inestimably valuable in the negotiations of the succeeding five weeks. Secretary of State Root and Señor Creel, the Mexican ambassador, made speeches at the inaugural session, and the Conference began its work under the most favorable auspices, animated by a spirit of mutual good will and by a genuine desire to bring about peace in Central America. Following the lead of Salvador, each government in turn declared that it had no claims or grievances against its neighbors, and that it was ready to proceed at once to a discussion of plans for a closer union between the republics. A proposal by Nicaragua and Honduras for the immediate establishment of a Central American federation caused a temporary interruption of the prevailing good feeling, but harmony was soon restored, and the work of the Conference proceeded smoothly until December 20, when eight conventions, representing the fruit of its deliberations, were signed by the delegates.[53]

The first of these was a general treaty of peace and amity, by which the five governments sought to remove several of the chief causes of revolutions and international wars in the Isthmus, and to provide for a closer co-operation in promoting their common interests. Among its most important provisions were the following:

Article I. “The Republics of Central America ... bind themselves to always observe the most complete harmony, and decide every difference or difficulty that may arise amongst them, of whatever nature it may be, by means of the Central American Court of Justice created by the Convention which they have concluded for that purpose on this date.”

Art. II. “... They declare that any disposition or measure which may tend to disturb the constitutional organization” [that is, the existing government] “of one of the Republics is to be deemed a menace to the peace of all.”

Art. III. “Taking into account the central geographical position of Honduras, and the facilities which owing to this circumstance have made its territory most often the theater of Central American conflicts, Honduras declares from now on its absolute neutrality in event of any conflict between the other republics; and the latter, in their turn, provided such neutrality be observed, bind themselves to respect it, and in no case to violate the Honduranean territory.”

Art. XVI. “... Desiring to prevent one of the most frequent causes of disturbances in the Republics, the contracting Governments shall not permit the leaders or principal chiefs of political refugees, or their agents, to reside in the departments bordering on the countries whose peace they might disturb.”

Art. XVII. “Every person, no matter what his nationality, who, within the territory of one of the contracting parties, shall initiate or foster revolutionary movements against any of the others, shall be immediately brought to the capital of the Republic, where he shall be submitted to trial according to law.”

The other provisions of the treaty aimed to make the relations between the republics closer and more friendly, and to foster their co-operation for the furthering of their mutual interests. It provided for a reciprocal recognition of the validity of judicial proceedings, professional degrees, patents, and copyrights. Citizens of each country, residing in the territory of one of the others, were to enjoy the same privileges as nationals of the latter, and were to be considered as citizens of the latter if they fulfilled other constitutional requirements. Each Republic pledged itself to accredit a permanent legation to each of the others, and agreed that its diplomatic and consular agents in foreign countries should afford the same protection to the persons, ships, and properties of the citizens of other Central American states as to their compatriots. Vessels of any Central American state were to receive the same treatment as national vessels in the ports of others, and an agreement was to be entered into for the encouragement by subsidies of the coasting trade and of foreign steamship connections. The establishment of a practical agricultural school in Salvador, a school of mines and mechanics in Honduras, and one of arts and trades in Nicaragua, as well as the proposed pedagogical institute in Costa Rica and the Central American Bureau in Guatemala, was recommended, although not specifically provided for.

An additional convention to the General Treaty contained radical and rather impractical provisions aiming to make revolutions less frequent:

Art. I. “The Governments of the High Contracting Parties shall not recognize any other Government which may come into power in any of the five Republics as a consequence of a _coup d’état_, or of a revolution against a recognized government, so long as the freely elected representatives of the people thereof have not constitutionally reorganized the country.”

Art. II. “No Government of Central America shall in case of civil war intervene in favor of or against the Government of the country where the struggle takes place.”

Art. III. “The Governments of Central America, in the first place, are recommended to endeavor to bring about, by the means at their command, a constitutional reform in the sense of prohibiting the re-election of the President of a Republic, where such prohibition does not exist; secondly, to adopt all measures necessary to effect a complete guarantee of the principle of alternation in power.”

Another convention established a Central American Court of Justice, consisting of five judges, one to be elected by the legislature of each state. To this tribunal, the five republics bound themselves “to submit all controversies or questions which may arise among them, of whatever nature and no matter what their origin may be, in case the respective Departments of Foreign Affairs shall not have been able to reach an understanding.” The Court was also to take cognizance of suits which citizens of one of the contracting parties might bring against the government of one of the others on account of violation of treaties or denial of justice and of the other cases of an international character, including those which two or more of the Central American governments, or one of them and a foreign government, might agree to submit to it. It was to be “competent to determine its own jurisdiction, interpreting the Treaties and Conventions germane to the matter in dispute, and applying the principles of international law.” Article XIII provided:

“From the moment in which any suit is instituted against any one or more governments up to that in which a final decision has been pronounced, the Court may at the solicitation of any one of the

## parties fix the situation in which the contending parties must remain,

to the end that the difficulty shall not be aggravated and that things shall be conserved in _statu quo_ pending a final decision.”

In the exercise of its duties, the Court might address itself to the governments or the tribunals of the respective states, to have its orders carried out, or it might provide for securing their execution through special commissioners, whom the parties were to assist in every way possible. The latter solemnly bound themselves to submit to the judgments of the Court, and agreed “to lend all moral support that may be necessary in order that they may be properly fulfilled.”

Every effort was made to secure the complete independence of the Court. It was to sit at Cartago, Costa Rica,[54] where it would be more free from political or personal pressure than in some other parts of the Isthmus. The judges were to serve for five years, receiving a fixed salary paid out of the treasury of the Court, to which each state contributed, and enjoying the privileges and immunities of diplomatic agents; and they were not to exercise their profession or hold public office during their term of service. They were not to consider themselves barred from sitting in a case to which their own governments were parties, for they were to represent, not the individual states, but the “national conscience of Central America.”

An additional article proposed to give the Court “jurisdiction over the conflicts which may arise between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial powers--when as a matter of fact the judicial decisions and the resolutions of the National Congress are not respected.” This provision, which would have authorized the tribunal to intervene in the internal affairs of the contracting powers in times of internal disorder, was never ratified.

The Convention which established the Central American Bureau recognized certain interests as being “those to which special attention should be paid.” These were: “the peaceful reorganization of their mother country, Central America”; the establishment of a broad, practical, and complete system of education of an essentially Central American character; the development of commerce and the advancement of agriculture and industry; and the uniformity of civil, commercial, and criminal legislation, customs tariffs, and monetary systems. The functions of the Bureau were to be all those considered necessary and expedient to achieve the objects placed in its care. It was to have an organ of publicity, and was to serve as a center for the distribution of information about Central American conditions both in the Isthmus and in foreign countries.

At the same time, several other conventions were signed. One provided for the extradition of criminals; another for the establishment of a pedagogical institute directed by the government of Costa Rica but supported by all of the others; another for the co-operation of the five countries in making plans for the construction of the Central American sections of the Pan American railway and the improvement of other means of intercommunication. By still another treaty, each of the contracting governments obligated itself to name one or more commissions to study the currency systems, customs tariffs, weights and measures, and other matters of an economic and fiscal nature in their respective countries. After these had reported, delegates were to be appointed to a Central American Conference, which was to discuss the measures recommended by the commissioners, and especially the reform of the various currency systems on a gold basis. Similar conferences were to be held annually thereafter to consider matters which the governments might agree to submit to them.

The Conference’s program for the political and economic regeneration of the Isthmus was obviously too ambitious to be carried out at once, for evils arising from deep-rooted habits and fundamental social conditions could not be done away with by mere international agreement, however sincere the contracting parties might be in their desire for peace and for a realization of a closer union. No one could reasonably expect that the five governments would turn at once from their attitude of mutual suspicion and hostility to a harmonious co-operation in undertakings for their common welfare. Neither of the two main objects of the Washington Conventions,--the elimination of civil and international wars and the creation of closer ties between the five republics with a view to uniting them eventually under one government,--seemed to have been realized to any appreciable extent in the years immediately following 1907, and this led many who had hoped that there would at once be a marked improvement in international relations to brand the treaties as a failure. A careful examination of their results, however, shows that the treaties have been very far from a failure, even though their effects have as yet only begun to make themselves felt. Both of the objects of the Conference have been realized to some extent, and there is every prospect that they will be realized more and more fully as time goes on.

At first, indeed, there was little change in the relations between the five republics. Some of the governments, and especially that of Nicaragua, showed little inclination to carry out the obligations of the conventions in good faith. President Zelaya, who already practically controlled Honduras through the Dávila government, continued his machinations against the tranquillity of other neighboring states, directing his efforts mainly towards placing one of his own supporters in the presidency of Salvador. His open assistance to Prudencio Alfaro, who made repeated attempts to invade that republic in 1908 and 1909, finally forced the United States to authorize the commanders of its naval vessels in Central American waters to use force to prevent the launching of filibustering expeditions from Nicaraguan ports.[55] Zelaya’s policy created a situation which was intolerable to Guatemala and Salvador, and soon convinced all who were interested in Central American affairs that he was the greatest obstacle to the establishment of permanent peace in the Isthmus. President Taft expressed this belief in his annual message to Congress in December, 1909, when he said:

“Since the Washington Conventions of 1907 were communicated to the Government of the United States as a consulting and advising party, this Government has been almost continuously called upon by one or another, and in turn by all of the five Central American republics, to exert itself for the maintenance of the conventions. Nearly every complaint has been against the Zelaya government of Nicaragua, which has kept Central America in constant tension and turmoil.”

In the early part of the summer of 1908, a band of revolutionists invaded Honduras from Salvador, and another band, led by General Lee Christmas, an American soldier of fortune, attacked some of the towns on the north coast of that republic. There was little doubt in the minds of well-informed people that one or both of Zelaya’s principal enemies, the Presidents of Guatemala and Salvador, were aiding the revolutionists with a view to striking at him through the government of Honduras. Zelaya at once prepared for war, and the treaties of peace, hardly six months old, seemed to have been forgotten. The United States and Mexico, however, made strong representations to all the

## parties concerned, and Costa Rica, by a happy inspiration, suggested

to the newly established Central American Court that it interpose its influence to prevent the threatened conflict. On July 8, this tribunal addressed a telegram to the presidents of Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, urging them to submit their differences to arbitration. On receipt of this communication, Nicaragua and Honduras made formal complaints to the Court in accordance with the terms of the Washington Conventions,--Honduras charging that Guatemala and Salvador had fomented and assisted the revolution, and had failed to restrain the Honduranean exiles residing in their territory, and Nicaragua appearing as an interested party. The Court acted with promptness and decision. The complainants were asked to submit proofs in support of their charges, and Guatemala, Salvador, and Nicaragua were ordered to refrain from any military movements which might suggest intervention in the internal affairs of Honduras, and to reduce their forces to a peace basis. These messages were transmitted and answered by telegraph, so that within five days of the Court’s first note a _modus vivendi_ had been established and the immediate danger of a conflict had been dispelled. After Guatemala and Salvador complied with the orders of the Court, the revolution in Honduras subsided. The Court handed down its decision on December 19, 1908. Salvador was absolved of all responsibility for the revolution in Honduras by the votes of the judges representing Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica against those of the judges from Honduras and Nicaragua. Guatemala was exonerated by all except the representative of Honduras. This decision was severely criticised by many persons in Central America, and it lost much of its force from the fact that most of the judges had obviously voted as the interests of the governments which named them dictated. There could be no doubt, however, that the Court had averted a general Central American war, and had thus done a signal service to the cause of peace.[56]

By this time it was clear that the Washington Conventions would have little effect so long as Zelaya continued to be president of Nicaragua. When a revolution broke out against him in the fall of 1909, therefore, it was regarded with more sympathy and favor by those who had been interested in the work of the Conference than was consistent with the spirit, at least, of the Conference’s acts. The attitude of the United States and of the other Central American governments, as we shall see in the next chapter, did much to make this uprising a success. Zelaya’s defeat naturally involved the fall of Dávila a short time afterward.

After the elimination of Zelaya, the beneficial effects of the Conventions began to show themselves somewhat more than had been possible while the same conditions which had caused the disturbances of the years 1906-7 had continued to exist. It became evident after 1910 that they marked a turning point in the relations of the five republics. Since that year, and in fact, if we except occasional attempts to render covert aid to revolutions, since 1907, there has not been one international war in Central America. It would be difficult to point to another ten years in the history of the Isthmus of which this has been true. It is, moreover, hardly conceivable under present conditions, and especially in view of the influence exerted in behalf of peace by the United States, that there should be an armed conflict between two or more of the five republics. The principal object of the Washington Conference may therefore be said to have been realized. The change which has taken place has been in large part due to the fact that the five countries themselves have generally abided by the provisions of the Treaty of Amity and the Treaty establishing the Central American Court, for they have refrained from sending troops to intervene in one another’s internal affairs, and have shown a readiness which had been rare before 1907 to submit differences which arose between them to settlement by diplomatic means or arbitration rather than by a resort to arms. Their relations with one another have undoubtedly been improved by the new spirit which the Conference called into being, and their feeling of common nationality and their readiness to co-operate for the realization of their mutual purposes and ambitions have been strengthened by an increasing realization of the external dangers which confront a Central America divided and distracted by internal wars.

The Conventions did less to bring about stability of government in the individual states, but even in this their effect has been by no means negligible. Internal disorders cannot, of course, be done away with while their fundamental causes remain; and the convention providing that governments coming into office by the use of force should not be recognized until after they had received the approval of the voters at a popular election, and that the state constitutions should be so amended as to insure alternation in power, have been entirely disregarded. Nevertheless, revolutionary uprisings have been made decidedly less frequent by the fact that several of the republics have faithfully observed their obligations to exercise surveillance over political exiles from neighboring countries and not to encourage or permit the organization within their territories of attempts to overthrow nearby governments. Enemies of the established order in one of the republics now find it far more difficult than ever before to secure the base of operations and the financial and military assistance which are usually indispensable for the success of a revolt.

The measure of success which the work of the Conference has attained has been very largely due to the energetic support by the United States of the principles which it established. The government at Washington has several times intervened diplomatically, or even by the use of force, to prevent violations of the more important conventions, to which it was practically, if not formally, a party. In doing this, it has usually acted upon the invitation of one or the other of the five republics. It has not hesitated to use any means necessary to prevent unjustified attacks by one country on another, and it has often brought strong pressure to bear to deter the signatory powers from permitting their territory to be used as a base of revolutionary operations against their neighbors. Sometimes North American influence has apparently been the only factor which has secured respect for the obligations imposed by the peace treaty, for one or two of the

## parties which signed that treaty have shown little disposition to abide

by its provisions and have thus endangered the peace of the Isthmus despite the fact that their neighbors were endeavoring to carry out the provisions of the Conventions in good faith.

The Central American Court of Justice, which was to have been the crowning work of the Conference, has not entirely fulfilled the expectations of its founders. It cannot be said to be a tribunal independent of and superior to the five governments, to which any aggrieved person or state may appeal in the confidence of securing justice. Several of the men appointed as judges have been distinguished lawyers of conspicuous ability and undoubted integrity, but at the same time there have been others, sometimes constituting the majority of the Court, who have owed their nominations purely to domestic political considerations. The honor and the large salary attached to them have made the judgeships one of the most attractive positions in the gift of the state governments, and there has consequently been a keen competition for them among prominent politicians, which has made it more difficult to select a man solely on his merits. In addition to this, the importance of controlling the Court as a means of influencing the international politics of the Isthmus has made almost inevitable the appointment of men who could be relied upon to vote as their governments wished when important questions were at issue. The control exerted over the judges by the powers which named them has prevented the Court from becoming in any true sense independent, and has given it the position of a standing commission of distinguished diplomats rather than that of a true court of justice. This was perhaps inevitable, because the states of the Isthmus, which had never known a judicial tribunal not subject in some degree at least to official influence, could hardly grasp the idea of an international body which would be entirely free from the dictation of the authority which created it. There has been, therefore, no strong force of public opinion to support the Court in asserting its right to speak for the “National Conscience of Central America,” and even the judges themselves have shown little inclination to seize and hold the position of complete freedom from control with which the Washington Conference had intended to invest them.

That this was true was evident in the first case that was brought before the tribunal. In deciding the suit of Honduras and Nicaragua against Guatemala and Salvador in 1908, each of the judges from the four states interested voted, as we have seen, on the side supported by the country which had appointed him. The general belief that the dictation of the governments involved, rather than the facts as shown by the evidence, had determined the decision of this question, did much to injure the Court and to deprive it of public confidence. Its independence suffered another serious blow as the result of the action taken in another question which arose three years later after the revolution in Nicaragua. The government which succeeded Zelaya failed to contribute its share towards the expenses of the Court, in which the judge appointed by the late administration was still sitting. Now the salaries of the judges, according to the convention founding the tribunal, were to be paid out of the latter’s treasury, from a general fund to which each of the states contributed. In this way the Conference had hoped to establish the financial independence of the judges with respect to their governments, but its intention does not seem to have been carried out, for the refusal of Nicaragua to contribute her quota was regarded as the equivalent of withholding her judge’s salary. The latter was thus forced to withdraw temporarily from the Court, whereupon that body, instead of calling upon the substitute provided by its constitution, admitted a new magistrate appointed by the Conservative government of Nicaragua. This action entirely disillusioned those who had hoped that the Court would be above party politics and independent of outside pressure, for it established the dependence of the judges on the governments that named them, and constituted a recognition by the tribunal itself of the fact that its members were representatives of the administration in power in their respective countries, rather than magistrates whose tenure was secure without regard to political changes during their legal term of office.

Since its action in averting a general war in 1908, the Court has been more ornamental than useful. It has served as a symbol of Central American unity, and it has kept alive the principle of international arbitration, but it has actually decided very few cases. Three or four suits have been brought against the government of one of the countries by citizens of another, charging violation of treaty rights or denial of justice, but the Court has refused in every instance to adjudicate them, on the ground that the petitioners had not exhausted the means of redress at their disposal in the countries where they claimed that they had been mistreated. It also refused to intervene in the internal affairs of Costa Rica in 1914 to determine the validity of a presidential election. During the two revolutions in Nicaragua, in 1910 and 1912, it endeavored to bring about an agreement between the contending factions, and in 1912 it even sent a commission of its members to confer with the rival leaders; but its efforts came to naught in both cases because the Conservatives, who had the moral support of the United States, were confident of their ability to defeat their opponents, and therefore refused to agree to a compromise.

Its most recent, and in many ways its most important decisions, were those handed down on September 30, 1916, and March 2, 1917, in the suits brought against Nicaragua by Costa Rica and Salvador, which claimed that their rights had been violated by the recent treaty between that country and the United States. The Court refused to declare the treaty void, saying that it had no jurisdiction over the United States, but it held, nevertheless, that the complainants’ rights had been violated, thus condemning Nicaragua’s action as illegal. This case has raised a very serious question as to the extent to which the authority of the tribunal will be recognized. Despite Nicaragua’s refusal to appear as a party to the case or to accept the verdict, there can be no doubt that the Court had jurisdiction over the question at issue, or that Nicaragua is bound, by the Washington Conventions, to respect its decision. Whether she will do so, however, seems very doubtful. If she continues in her refusal, and is supported in her attitude by the Government of the United States, the prestige of the Court will be seriously impaired, if, indeed, its very existence is not endangered. It is already rather unpopular because of the expense which it involves and because it has accomplished so little, and it seems probable that it would have been disbanded before this if the United States had not exerted a strong influence in behalf of its continuance.

The measures planned by the Conference for promoting closer economic relations between the five republics have only been carried out in part, and their results have been far from satisfactory. Although the provisions for granting citizens of each Central American state the rights of citizens in all the others, and the mutual recognition of professional degrees, patents, and copyrights, have undoubtedly done much to encourage travel and commerce and to promote good feeling, the more ambitious projects outlined in the Conventions have been almost, if not quite, fruitless. Few of the educational institutions which the Conference contemplated have been established, and those which individual states have founded as a result of its recommendations have not attained a truly international character because of the reluctance of other governments to appropriate money for their support. The Central American conferences met annually for five years, drawing up conventions for the reform of the currency and fiscal systems, the establishment of free trade, the adoption of a comprehensive unified system of education, and the improvement of interstate communications; but they were finally discontinued because none of their work had been given any practical effect by the governments. The Central American Bureau (Oficina Internacional Centroamericana) has perhaps been the only institution provided for at the meeting in 1907 which has thus far fully justified its creation. This office, which has been sort of a clearing house for statistical and other data, has done much useful work in distributing commercial information in Central America and abroad, and has also served as an international agency for elaborating plans for joint action on subjects of general importance. Its organ, “Centro America,” is the most important periodical published in the Isthmus.

It is still too early to attempt a final estimate of the results of the Washington Conference, or to judge of the ultimate economic and political effects of its work. Some of the stipulations of the conventions adopted by it have never been carried out, and others have been rendered obsolete by the events of the last ten years, but in the main the agreements entered into are still in force, and are by no means without practical value. The provisions restraining the states from interfering in one another’s affairs and binding them to submit their disputes to arbitration cannot but make a great change in the political conditions of the Isthmus, if the five countries continue to observe them and if the United States continues to exert its influence to secure respect for them. The spirit of Central American unity, which inspired the actions of the Conference, is growing stronger daily as the states realize more fully their dependence upon one another and the importance of presenting a united front to the world. It seems not improbable that the meeting in Washington in 1907 will be looked back upon in the future as a turning point in the history of the Isthmus, marking a first and decisive step towards the elimination of the international and internal wars which had hitherto been so frequent and so destructive.

FOOTNOTES:

[45] Quoted by Critchfield (_American Supremacy_, Vol. II, p. 419) from a speech made at Chautauqua.

[46] U. S. Foreign Relations, 1906, I, 834ff. Mexico, _Boletín Oficial de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores_, Vol. 22, p. 235.

[47] Nicaragua, _Mem. de Relaciones Exteriores_, ’07, p. xxvii, 5.

[48] For the text of these conventions, see U. S. For. Rel., ’06, I, p. 857.

[49] U. S. Foreign Relations, ’07, p. 606; Nicaragua, _Memoria de Relaciones Exteriores_, ’07, most of which is devoted to an account of the events here discussed.

[50] For the text of this treaty, see Nicaragua, _Memoria de Relaciones Exteriores_, ’07, p. 405.

[51] Annual message to Nicaraguan Congress, Dec. 1, 1907.

[52] Article II of preliminary protocol, signed Sept. 17, 1907. U. S. For. Rel., ’07, II, p. 644.

[53] Mr. Buchanan’s report, with the text of the conventions, is printed in U. S. For. Rel., ’07, pp. 665-723.

[54] After the destruction of Cartago by an earthquake in 1910 it was moved to San José.

[55] See the article by Professor P. M. Brown, at the time U. S. Minister to Honduras, in the American Political Science Review, Vol. VI, Supplement, p. 160.

[56] For an account of the case, in addition to the official report of the Court, see the Am. Journal of International Law, Vol. II, p. 835.

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