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.
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