It has been a source of the most pleasing satisfaction for me to note the
good disposition shown by you in this matter, which could not have been
settled in any other way, in treating by a final and amicable rule an
important and vexatious question, finally decided in Washington, so far
as the principle was concerned, for the good of the two nations
interested; and, in conformity with your wish, I have the pleasure to
send, inclosed, copy and translation of the convention in question, for
your better information.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Convention for the demarkation of the boundary line
between the Republics of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, signed in the
city of San Salvador on the twenty-seventh day of the month of
March, of eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
The mediation of the Government of Salvador having been accepted by
the Most Excellent the Presidents of Costa Rica and Nicaragua to
settle the demarkation of the boundary line between the two
Republics, they have named, respectively, as envoys extraordinary
and ministers plenipotentiary, their excellencies Señors Don
Leonidas Pacheco and Don Manuel C. Matus, who, after several
interviews held in the presence of the minister of foreign
relations, Señor Don Jacinto Castellanos, especially authorized to
represent the Government of Salvador, their full powers being
[Page 101]
found to be in good and
due form, with the attendance of the Most Excellent the President of
the Republic, General Don Rafael A. Gutierrez, who has condescended
to be present to lend greater solemnity to the act, have concluded
the convention following:
Article I.
The contracting Governments bind themselves to each name a commission
composed of two engineers or surveyors for the purpose of properly
tracing and marking the boundary line between the Republics of Costa
Rica and Nicaragua, pursuant to the provisions of the treaty of
April 15, 1858, and the arbitration award of the President of the
United States of America, Mr. Grover Cleveland.
Article II.
The commissions created by the foregoing article shall be completed
by an engineer whose appointment shall be requested by both parties
of the President of the United States of America, and whose duties
shall be limited to the following:
Whenever in the carrying out of the operations the commissions of
Costa Rica and Nicaragua shall disagree, the disputed point or
points shall be submitted to the judgment of the engineer named by
the President of the United States of America. The engineer shall
have ample authority to decide any kind of dispute that may arise,
and his decision shall be final as to the operations in
question.
Article III.
Within three months after the exchange of the present convention when
once duly ratified by the respective Congresses, the representatives
in Washington of both contracting Governments shall proceed,
jointly, to request the President of the United States of America to
agree to the appointment of the engineer heretofore referred to and
to select the same. If, owing to the absence of a representative in
Washington of either of the two Governments, or for any other reason
whatsoever, the request shall not be made jointly within the time
specified, after the expiration thereof the representative in
Washington of either Costa Rica or Nicaragua may make the said
request separately, which request shall have the same effect as
though made by both parties.
Article IV.
The appointment of the United States engineer once made, and within
three months after such appointment, the demarkation of the boundary
line shall be entered upon, and shall be concluded within twenty
months after the inauguration of the work. The commissions of the
contracting parties shall meet in San Juan del Norte within the term
designated for the purpose, and shall begin their work at the end of
the boundary line, which, according to the treaty and award above
mentioned, starts from the Atlantic Coast.
Article V.
The contracting parties stipulate that if from any cause either the
commission of the Republic of Costa Rica or that of Nicaragua should
fail to appear at the place designated, on the day named for the
beginning of the work, this shall be begun by the commission that
may be on hand, the engineer of the United States Government being
present, and whatever may be so done shall be valid and final in so
far as regards the Republic failing to send its commissioners. The
same course shall be pursued should any or all of the commissioners
of either of the contracting Republics absent themselves after the
beginning of the work, or should they refuse to carry out the same
in the manner laid down in the award and treaty herein referred to,
or in accordance with the decision of the engineer appointed by the
President of the United States.
Article VI.
The contracting parties stipulate that the time established for the
conclusion of the demarkation is not absolute, and, therefore,
whatever may be done subsequent to the expiration thereof shall be
valid, either because the said term is insufficient for the carrying
out of all the operations, or by reason of the commissioners of
Costa Rica and Nicaragua agreeing among themselves, with the consent
of the United States engineer, to temporarily suspend the work, the
remaining time of that primarily designated being insufficient for
finishing the same.
Article VII.
In case of the temporary suspension of the work of demarkation
whatever may be done up to the time of suspension shall be held as
final and conclusive, and the boundaries in the respective parts
shall be deemed as materially established, even though owing to
unexpected and insuperable circumstances such suspension should
continue indefinitely.
[Page 102]
Article VIII.
The minutes of the work, which shall be kept in triplicate and which
the commissioners shall duly sign and seal, shall constitute,
without the necessity of approval or any other formality on the
parts of the signatory Republics, the proof of the final demarkation
of their boundaries.
Article IX.
The minutes to which the preceding article refers shall be spread in
the form following: Every day, upon finishing the work, there shall
be minutely and detailedly set forth everything done, giving the
starting point of the operations of the day, the kind of monument
constructed or adopted, the distance between each, the direction of
the line determining the true boundary, etc. In case any question
should arise between the commissioners of Costa Rica and Nicaragua
regarding any point the point or points in dispute and the decision
of the United States engineer shall be recorded in the respective
minutes. The minutes shall be kept in triplicate, the commission of
Costa Rica retaining one copy, that of Nicaragua another, and the
third being retained by the United States engineer, to be deposited
after the conclusion of the work in the Department of State at
Washington.
Article X.
The expense occasioned by the sending and stay of the United States
engineer, as well as his salary during all the time he may perform
his duties, shall be paid in equal moities by the two signatory
Republics.
Article XI.
The contracting parties bind themselves to secure the ratification of
this convention from their respective Congresses within six months,
reckoned from this date, even though it should be necessary for the
purpose to call an extraordinary session of those high bodies, and
the subsequent exchange shall be effected within the month following
the date of the last of the said ratifications, in San José de Costa
Rica and in Managua.
Article XII.
The expiration of the terms hereinbefore mentioned without the
execution of the acts for which they were designated will not
vitiate the present convention, and it will be endeavored by the
Republic at fault to remedy the same within the briefest time
possible.
In testimony whereof they sign and seal the present convention in
duplicate in the city of San Salvador on the twenty-seventh day of
the month of March of eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
| [l. s.] |
R. A. Gutierrez. |
| [l. s.] |
Jacinto Castellanos. |
| [l. s.] |
Leonidas Pacheco. |
| [l. s.] |
M. C. Matus. |
National Palace, San José, April eighth of eighteen hundred and
ninety-six.
The President of the Republic resolves to approve the foregoing
convention and submit it to the deliberations of the Congress for
the purposes of the fourth section of art. 73 of the Constitution of
the Republic.
- Rafael Iglesias.
- Ricardo Pacheco,
Secretary of State in the Department
of Foreign Relations.
