§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYsaid, he wished to put a Question to his noble 1063 Friend the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, of which he had given him private notice—namely, Whether his noble Friend had any objection to inform their Lordships in what state of progress the important negotiations with the Central States of America were at present? These negotiations were not of so much importance as regarded the relations between those States themselves and Great Britain as they were in respect of the settlement of the long-vexed question of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, which would probably be affected by them. These negotiations were commenced by the late Government and continued by the present. When the late Government went out of office there were three questions under consideration. First, the settlement of the boundary; secondly, the cession of the Mosquito Protectorate to Nicaragua; and, thirdly, the cession of the Bay Islands to the Honduras, on conditions which would ensure the safety of the subjects of Her Majesty resident in those islands. He should like to know the progress which the noble Lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs had made in settling these questions—for he had seen in a newspaper a statement to the effect that the Bay Islands had been ceded to the Honduras. If that were so, and if the cession had taken place on the conditions first laid down by Lord Clarendon, and afterwards by himself (the Earl of Malmesbury), he thought it would be a subject of great congratulation; those conditions being a complete and entire recognition of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty by the United States, and the entire security of Her Majesty's Government in those islands from any interference on the part of the United States or any other Power whatever. He should like to know whether the negotiations were in such a position as that the Government were able to produce the correspondence relating to them.
LORD WODEHOUSEsaid, that the questions which his noble Friend had asked related to matters of very great importance, not only as affecting our relations with the States of Central America, but also with respect to the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. He would remind the noble Earl, as he had alluded to the negotiations under the late Government, that before that Government left office, the Clarendon-Dallas Treaty had fallen to the ground in consequence of a difficulty raised by the Secretary of the United States. After- 1064 wards negotiations were resumed and Sir William Ouseley was sent out to Central America. In reply to another Question asked by his noble Friend he had to state that his noble Friend the Secretary for Foreign Affairs had continued the negotiations; and a Treaty had been concluded by which the Bay Islands were ceded to the Honduras. That treaty had been received in this country and ratified by Her Majesty. His noble Friend (the Earl of Malmesbury) had adverted to the conditions on which the negotiations for that cession had formerly been conducted, and which had been laid down by Lord Clarendon. These conditions had been considerably modified; but stipulations had been made which would, he thought, secure the safety of Her Majesty's subjects in the Bay Islands: and, moreover, a condition had been inserted that those islands should not be ceded by the Honduras to any other Power. The stipulations Treaty with Nicaragua had also been agreed upon, but, so far as Her Majesty's Government knew, it had not yet been ratified by the Congress of Nicaragua, nor had it been ratified by Her Majesty. When it should have been so ratified the ratifications would be exchanged; but until the entire matter was completed he could not produce the correspondence.
§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYsaid, that the answer of his noble Friend was satisfactory so far as it went; but as regarded the Treaty for the Cession of the Bay Islands to the Honduras, everything must depend on the terms upon which the Cession had taken place. His noble Friend had not answered one of the questions which he had put to him. He wished to know whether the United States recognized completely, fully, and fairly the spirit of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty?
LORD WODEHOUSEsaid, that the Clarendon-Dallas Treaty was at an end, and there was no other treaty between this country and the United States but the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.
§ THE EARL OF MALMESBURYobserved, that Her Majesty's late Government had declared to the Government of the United States that an indispensable condition of the cesssion of the Bay Islands to the Honduras, was the recognition by the United States, without further dispute, of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. If that condition had not been preserved, the object of the late Government had not been obtained.