ze or buy, which is more than five
statute miles from the coast line of any part of Central America;
because, as she says, the treaty means the political, not the
geographical Central America, and the political Central America is that
part only of the continent which is contained within the limits of the
five Central American republics; while the geographical Central America
comprises all the territory and adjacent waters which lie between the
republic of Mexico and South America; and that as Balize, Yucatan, and
the Bay Islands, were not within the limits of the five Central American
republics, they are no part of the Central America designated and
intended in the treaty, and are not included in the term "other
territory" used in said treaty.

The United States on the other hand claimed that the express language of
the treaty, to wit: "that neither will occupy, or fortify, or colonize,
or assume, or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the
Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America," means the geographical
Central America, including all that is not specifically enumerated from
Mexico on the north, to New Grenada or the United States of Columbia on
the south; that the claim of Great Britain was not a tenable or
reasonable one, and that the understanding was, that neither government
should thereafterwards acquire, or assume any control over, any part of
the territory lying between Mexico and South America.

In the year 1853, during the discussion in the Senate upon the
resolution of inquiry presented by Mr. Douglas, Mr. Clayton, then
Senator from Delaware, admitted that the ambiguity of the treaty is so
great, that on some future occasion a conventional article, clearly
stating what are the limits of the Central America named in the treaty,
might become advisable.

This admission, from the lips of the very man who so diplomatically (?)
represented the United States in the making of this vexatious treaty, is
rather significant, and aids us of this generation in coming to the
conclusion that the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty is a disgrace to this
republic, and ought to be at once abrogated.

Another historical fact, with which few are familiar, and which shows
the animus of this treaty, is this: In 1849 Mr. Hise, our minister at
Nicaragua, reported to the Honorable Secretary of State that Nicaragua
had offered to the United States, through him, "the exclusive right to
build, maintain, and forever control an in