File No. 817.011/1.
The American Chargé d’Affaires to the Secretary of State.
Managua, December 31, 1911.
The Constitution was to be promulgated tomorrow, but the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chamorro, is withholding his signature. He told me to-day that among the Transitory Provisions is a clause making the election of Mena and Solórzano constitutional.
There is also a clause providing that all employees must be Nicaraguans excepting those on the Mixed Claims Commission.
The Constitution can be amended, after promulgation, only upon approval of amendments by two successive Congresses.
Having in mind the customs authorities who are not Nicaraguans, I suggested to the Minister to refrain for the present from [error in transmission] the Constitution. When proper provision shall have been made for the customs employees, either the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Under Secretary will sign, they state, unless the Legation present a formal protest against the clause making constitutional the election of Mena and Solórzano.
I should add that the Nicaraguan Minister at Washington, Castrillo, has in several recent telegrams substantially stated that the Government of the United States will protect Nicaragua from foreign aggression and internal disorders unless these result from a failure to observe the Dawson Conventions.