of conspicuous citizens able to perform it in a satisfactory manner. No, gentlemen; my conscience, my honor, the love for my country, impose upon me the duty to resign the presidency; and upon you, your honor, your conscience, and the mission you have received to guard the welfare of the nation, to accept my resignation in order that the people may select another person, who, with better information and a more extended practical knowledge of public affairs, shall understand how to lead her on the road of prosperity and greatness. It must not be thought that my opinion on my incapacity is the result of false modesty nor should my declining the presidency be attributed to a sentiment of paltry egotism. Nothing of that, gentlemen! You have been witnesses to my life, and the classes of business I have practiced. I am an absolute stranger to politics, and know nothing of the science of government. How should I be able to bring to a felicitous conclusion the arduous and difficult enterprise to administer the interests of a nation barely constituted, if I am permitted to say so, and wherein there are so many obstacles to be removed merely to put her on the road of prosperity? True, I have the best intentions to gain the welfare of my country, but intentions alone will not do; something more is necessary, which I am wanting of. Aside from what I have said, you have to take in consideration my weak and sickly constitution. From the accompanying documents you will perceive that I am suffering from an infirmity which, at certain periods, prevents me from every active exercise and, above all, from mental occupations. Should, after having taken charge of the presidency, that infirmity attack me, then I would find myself in the painful position of being unable to devote to the dispatching of the public affairs the time required or of being compelled frequently to lay down the office for a time, either of which contingency I deem pernicious to the interests of the nation. In my letter to the district electors of October 8 last, I explained to them all the inconvenience resulting from my election; but since they were not pleased to desist, it is now for you to do me justice by admitting my resignation of the presidency, hereby offered in the most formal manner. The interests of the nation demand it, and you cannot disregard them. GRANADA, January 29, 1871. [Inclosure 2.] VICENTE QUADRA. Hon. TOMAS AYON, &c., &c. : * UNITED STATES LEGATION IN NICARAGUA, I beg leave to communicate to you inclosed copy of the address which I purpose to direct to his excellency the President elect on the occasion of his inauguration, which I would request you to submit to him, taking his pleasure on the hour when he will receive myself and the consuls of Germany, of Italy, of the United States of Colombia, and Peru, accompanying me. I have the honor, &c., &c., C. N. RIOTTE. [Inclosure 3.-Translation.] ADDRESS. Mr. PRESIDENT: I have the honor, united with four members of the consular body, to offer to you our congratulations for your happy inauguration to the first magistracy of the nation, and equally to the people of Nicaragua for having confided the supreme executive power to so distinguished a citizen, to so pure and energetic hauds, and to a character so frank and firm. The foreign nations we represent have no other desire, as they have no other interest, but that this nation, making a proper and ample use of the treasure bestowed upon it by nature on the road of order and of peaceable progress, may reach that degree of well-being, prosperity, and growth to which it is destined, and they are ready to make more and more intimate the friendly relations subsisting between them and this republic. I, in particular, feel authorized to assure you, with all frankness, that my nation, my government, and I myself anxiously wish to establish those relations upon a footing of mutual advantage, of true republican fraternity and reciprocal respect, based upon that justice which forms the indispensable foundation of all human relations, domestic as well as municipal, political as well as international. Would that, from the solemn act to-day celebrated by the nation, a new era in the! annals of the republic might be dated! [Inclosure 4.-Translation.] I have the honor of transmitting to Mr. Minister Riotte copy of the reply his excellency President Quadra will make to the address whereby Mr. Riotte, in behalf of the diplomatic and consular corps, will congratulate him upon his inauguration to the nation's first magistracy. I am happy to inform Mr. Riotte that one of the president's adjutants will be at his house at 12 o'clock to-day to accompany him to the national palace. I remain Mr. Riotte's, &c., &c., TOMAS AYON. [Inclosure 5.-Translation.] President Quadra's reply. I thank your excellency for the highly gracious terms wherein, in behalf of the hon orable diplomatic and consular corps, you have deigned to congratulate-me upon my inauguration to the first magistracy of the nation. One of my principal designs in the fulfillment of the functions devolved upon me will be to cultivate with the illustrious governments represented by the honorable gentlemen of the diplomatic body, the most frank and friendly relations, and to adopt measures for increasing the commerce of their citizens with the republic of Nicaragua. I am of opinion that what they need to develop the important material interests they are importing to the Hispano-American republics of the New World, is security for their persons and their property. I shall endeavor to give it, complying with the sacred duty imposed upon me by society and by the laws, and I shall, to that end, make use of all the means at my command. I offer to the honorable gentlemen of the diplomatic and consular corps my most cordial greetings, and beg them to transmit to their governments (the expression of) my great sympathy and high consideration. [Inclosure 6.-Translation.] I have the honor of transmitting to Mr. Minister Riotte an autograph letter directed to the most excellent President of the United States by his excellency President Vicente Quadra, informing him of his having taken possession of the presidency of the republic. From the copy inclosed Mr. Minister Riotte will be advised of the contents of that letter. I also submit to Mr. Riotte a printed exemplar of the decree issued by the President organizing his cabinet. I offer to Mr. Riotte, &c., &c. [Inclosure No. 7.-Translation.] A. H. RIVAS. Vicente Quadra, President of the Republic of Nicaragua, to his excellency the President of the United States of America. MOST EXCELLENT SIR: I have the honor of informing your excellency that, after my fellow-citizens did confide to me the difficult task of governing this republic during the present constitutional period, I have taken possession of the presidency on the 1st instant. Among the momentous duties devolved upon me by the position wherein I find myself placed, I consider as the most essential for the well-being of the people who laid this destiny into my hands, to cultivate the good relations existing between this nation and the one you so worthily govern. Anxiously interested in the progress of the nation, your excellency will find me always disposed to promote and second everything tending to augment international sympathies. In this sense it is highly satisfactory to me to offer to your excellency my friendship and consideration. May God protect your excellency, keeping you in His holy care. The minister general, A. H. RIVAS. NATIONAL PALACE, Managua, March 4, 1871. For correct copy. VICENTE QUADRA. A. H. RIVAS. [Inclosure No. 8.] Hon. A. H. RIVAS, Minister General : MANAGUA, March 6, 1871. I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your note of the 4th instant, transmitting an autograph letter of his excellency President V. Quadra to the President of the United States of America, with copy thereof, apprising him of his having taken possession of the presidency of this republic on the 1st instant. I beg, Mr. Minister General Rivas, to assure his excellency that I shall be happy to forward said letter to its destination by the first opportunity. I have the honor, &c., [Inclosure No. 9.-Translation.] C. N. RIOTTE. I have the honor of informing Mr. Minister Riotte that the congress of the republic has declared the citizen Vicente Quadra popularly and constitutionally elected President of Nicaragua for the period commencing the 1st of March next and ending the last of February, 1875. The President elect will take possession of the supreme magistracy of the nation the first of next month, and it would give great satisfaction to the government if Mr. Minister Riotte would deign to be present at this capital, there to confer by his presence greater solemnity to that act. On this occasion I am happy to repeat, &c., &c. [Inclosure No. 10.] TOMAS AYON. Hon. Mr. TOMAS AYON, &c., &c.: UNITED STATES LEGATION, NICARAGUA, I had the honor of receiving Mr. Minister Ayon's note of the 21st instant, apprising me officially of the election of Mr. Vicente Quadra President of the republic for the ensuing constitutional term, and inviting me, on behalf of his government, to attend and participate in that gentleman's inauguration at the capital on the 1st day of next month. I beg Mr. Ayon to express to his government my thanks for the attention thus shown me, and to inform it that it is my purpose to correspond to the courteous invitation and to be present at that grave and solemn act. I have the honor, &c., &c., No. 302. C. N. RIOTTE. No. 79.] Mr. Riotte to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION, Leon, May 22, 1871. SIR: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch No. 51, of 24th ultimo. Inclosed I have the honor of submitting to you copies and translations of correspondence had with the Nicaragua government on two subjects, viz, the autograph letter from President Grant to President Quadra on the latter's elevation to the presidency, and the maritime canal across Nicaragua. Being persuaded that the practicability of this line and its merits, as compared to other lines, will be investigated by the very best authorities, and the only ones competent to decide, I cannot deem myself warranted to offer an opinion on it. The reasons urged in Mr. Balladare's note in behalf of the Nicaragua line are well founded, and I do not hesitate to express the conviction that President Quadra sincerely prefers to have the enterprise fall into the hands of Americans in preference to any other nation. The Franco Lefevre contract, reported on in my dispatch No. 72, came up in the senate session of March 14, as I learn from the proceedings published but four days ago, and that body advised the government not to submit it to the approbation of the sovereign, (Toberano, the modest title used for congress,) since it was onerous for the country. Thus it will sleep along with the Chevalier and so many contracts upon the same subject. I have, &c., [Translation.] C. N. RIOTTE. MANAGUA, May 11, 1871. SIR: I have received order from his excellency the President of the republic to direct to you this dispatch, to lay before you a subject of the highest importance, wherein the Nicaraguan government is very much interested. His excellency the President has learned from publications of foreign papers, and from some dispatches you have directed to my department, that the Government of the American Union, for some time already, is occupied with decided energy to find out which may be the most advantageous spot for excavating a maritime canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific, across the American isthmus. To that important end it has sent out exploring commissions to Darien and Tehuantepec, without till this day attaining the desired result. It has occurred to my government that these scientific expeditions were not from beginning sent to the territory of this republic, when everything seems to indicate that it is here where the grand problem, traced out since the days of the discovery of America, must receive its practical solution. A slight glance upon the map of this continent suffices to become assured that Nicaragua, with her navigable rivers, her interior lakes, and the short distance intervening between them and the Pacific, is the point presenting the best conditions for the practicability of that work of universal interest. These and other favorable circumstances whereof you are well aware, as for the benignity of the climate, the proximity to the road to the centers of the population, the abundance of provisions, the sympathies of the Nicaraguan people for the American, &c., ought to have induced the American Government to dispatch said expedition to this republic, and that it did not induce the government of Nicaragua to assume that the Washington Cabinet was not fully cognizant of said circumstances, or that it was preoccupied by incorrect or interested accounts, which may have originated in the desire to call the attention of the American Government and people to localities they were referring to. For these reasons the undersigned was ordered to forward to your excellency, as I herewith do in a separate package, a series of documents relative to the principal studies hitherto made upon the Nicaraguan canal, among which are found plans and other data throwing abundant light upon that most important subject. The undersigned hopes that your excellency will be pleased to transmit those documents to the government you represent, for whatever they may be worth to it, in case it should not have had prior knowledge thereof. And, furthermore, he hopes that you will be pleased to lay before that Government all the information favorable to the project, derived from your acquaintance of the country, and also to assure it that the Nicaraguan government is fully inclined to lend to the American commission that may come for exploring the territory of the republic all the co-operation it is capable of. For the government of the undersigned it would be very satisfactory if, in consequence of that exploration, that gigantic work would be put on the way of realization, which truly would form one of the wonders of the age; and it is unquestionable that the initiative taken by President Grant in the matter will secure to him a lasting fame. Having thus complied with the order of his excellency the President, the undersigned is happy to renew, &c., &c. FRANCISCO BALLADARES. Hon. C. N. RIOTTE, &c., &c. [Inclosure 2.] Hon. FRANCISCO BALLADARES, &c., &c.: UNITED STATES LEGATION, Leon, May 15, 1871. I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your interesting note of the 11th instant, relating to the interoceanic canal across this republic, and will not fail to submit it to my government by the earliest opportunity. The "documents relative to the principal studies had on the subject" have, as yet, not reached me. I remain, &c., No. 303. Mr. Riotte to Mr. Fish. C. N. RIOTTE. No. 80.] UNITED STATES LEGATION, Leon, June 15, 1871. (Received July 14.) SIR: I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your dispatches Nos. 52 and 53, of respectively April 26 and May 9 last. The inclosed correspondence explains itself, and requires no additional remarks of mine. The parcel therein alluded to leaves with this dispatch, marked S. D. List of inclosures. C. N. RIOTTE. 1. Copy of my note to Minister Balladares's, of May 28 ultimo, acknowledging the receipt of a parcel destined for the Government of the United States. 2. Copy and translation of Mr. Ballarades's note of June 10, advising me of having dispatched another parcel with the same destination. 3. Copy of my note of this day to Mr. Balladares, acknowledging the receipt of notes and parcel. Hon. FRANCISCO BALLADARES, &c., &c., &c.: I have the honor, &c., [Inclosure 2.-Translation.] C. N. RIOTTE. Mr. Balladares to Mr. Riotte. MANAGUA, June 10, 1871. Mr. C. N. RIOTTE, &c., &c.: By your esteemed communication of the 28th ultimo, I was informed that the parcel of documents relative to the interoceanic canal came to your hands and was dispatched to Washington the 24th of the same month. |