GUATEMALA. MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF GUATEMALA TO THE GUATEMALAN CONGRESS. File No. 5316/157. No. 101.] Minister Sands to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN LEGATION, SIR: I have the honor to inclose copy and translation of the message of the President of Guatemala to the National Assembly. I have, etc., [Inclosure-Translation.] W. F. SANDS. Message of the President of Guatemala. More than half a million pesos were spent in bettering sanitary conditions by the board of health, the various departments of which gave complete satisfaction. There has not been a case of contagious disease on our coasts and no quarantine has been established against our ports. During this year more than a million persons have been vaccinated or revaccinated in the country, and this sanitary measure is being followed with such activity that in a few months we may be able to say that Guatemala is at the head of the countries whose people are immune from smallpox, as it already occupies a distinguished place in sanitary matters. As per report of the minister of finance, the public revenue for the year 1909 gave a total of $49,239,722.93, giving a surplus of $18,739,722.93 over the sum estimated by the National Assembly, which was for $30,500,000. The expenses of the administration amounted to $38,412,807.54, besides $32,141,453.70 expended by the department of finance, which makes a total for the year 1909 of $70,554,261.24. This increase is due entirely to the fluctuations of exchange. I hope that through the pea and tranquillity enjoyed by the country, and as a result of the laudable efforts t, better as far as possible the financial condition of the country, I may very soon report to the honorable assembly some arrangement or loan that may fill the aspirations of the Guatemalan people and of their Government, a matter which is is delicate as it is important. It has been my constant purpose and sincere endeavor to surround with every kind of guaranty and facility the investment of foreign capital in our country, whether it be in commerce, agriculture, or industry, thus favoring the immigration not only of persons but of capital, in order to bring about the economical evolution initiated and which will completely change conditions in our country. I have always desired that my administration be considered as one of hard work, and morally and practically I have lent my energy to progress in that respect, developing public education and giving it powerful stimulus, so that its influence be decisive. In the other branches of national progress I have endeavored that this progress should be as great as the circumstances and the elements in our power permitted. Activity can find, in this country, an unlimited field. Thousands of miles of new highways and roads have been constructed connecting towns to agricultural centers. The interoceanic railway is open to the commerce of the world, and the plans are complete for the building of railways to the frontiers of Mexico and El Salvador, and also the line which will reach Quezaltenango and from there be extended to the other northern Departments. These facilities have brought more traffic and titles have been issued for more than 30,000 "caballerias" of lands of the public domain all over the Republic, this with the object of making a large distribution of lands which will make farms, thus increasing the number of small property holders, which means an increase of wealth, both public and private, and will help to develop the important branch of agriculture. The Republic of Guatemala has commenced to be visited by numerous American and European travelers attracted by the facilities offered by our new interoceanic railway and by the different lines of steamers touching at our ports. Most of them are tourists who come to admire the natural beauty of our country, and the day is not very far away when this delightful climate will bring here many tourists escaping from the severe cold or heat of our neighboring northern countries. The number who came seeking business opportunities is also considerable, for in consequence of a fertile soil and the guaranties offered by civilized institutions they wish to develop new industries and invest capital profitably. Our country offers an unlimited field to progress, and it is expected that following the path she has cut out for herself, dedicating all efforts to labor, which is the best guaranties for peace, she will advance with sure and firm steps to the conquest of a beautiful future, replete with ever-growing prosperity and aggrandizement as a reward to her efforts. GUATEMALA, March 1, 1910. MANUEL EStrada C. HAITI. MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF HAITI TO THE HAITIAN CONGRESS. File No. 838.032/2. Minister Furniss to the Secretary of State. No. 721.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Port au Prince, September 6, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith copy and translation of the message of President Simon read at the opening of the extra session of the Haitian Congress on the 5th instant. I have, etc., [Inclosure-Translation.] H. W. FURNISS. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY-SESSION OF SEPTEMBER 5, 1910. Seated on the executive bench were Messrs. Murat Claude, Petion Pierre Andre, and Gens. Jeremie and Septimus Marius. Mr. F. P. Paulin, the president of the senate, presided over the assembly and in the name of the Republic declared the opening of the extra session. The secretary of interior took the floor. "Honorable senators, honorable deputies," said he, "the constitution gives to the chief of state the right to convoke you in an extra session.. It makes it also his duty to render an account, through a message, of the necessity under which he finds himself for calling you together; therefore I beg you to give attention to the reading of the message that I am about to make." Message-François Antoine Simon, President of the Republic. MESSRS. SENATORS, MESSRS. DEPUTIES: At the beginning of my elevation to the First Magistracy of the Republic I applied myself especially toward seeking the quickest and most reasonable solution of the important financial question which has not up to the present hour ceased to absorb the thoughts of all patriots who are interested in the welfare of the Haitian nation. Often in my addresses, as well as in my audiences, it has given me pleasure to renew the pledge which I voluntarily took before the nation to endow it with a money of good standard and discontinue the pernicious paper-money system. There has existed for a long time between the Government and the National Bank of Haiti a difference which, threatening to last forever, rendered ineffective all the efforts attempted with a view of ameliorating our financial situation. I thought that the sending of a commission to Paris might put an end to this state of affairs, which had become intolerable, and arrange at the same time the basis of a new financial scheme. In the execution of this scheme I met very great difficulties, but my firm faith and a better future has permitted me to overcome them. The financial mission, after having negotiated for the retirement of the national bank, has returned with three proposals of contracts which the council of secretaries of state has adopted after having made the necessary amendments, viz: 1. An agreement for the canceling of the contract of the national bank of 1880. 2. A contract for the establishment of a new State bank under the title of "National Bank of the Republic of Haiti," negotiated between the Government and the bank "l'Union Parisenne," in the name of a group of capitalists mentioned in the said contract. 3. A contract for a loan between the Government and the same group. The proceeds of the loan are to serve for the following transactions: (a) The entire withdrawal of our paper money within a maximum delay of two years and also of the nickel in a proportion that shall be deemed necessary. (b) Redemption of the interior debt including the 6 per cent and 3 per cent consolidated loans, 6 per cent united loans, 2 per cent loans (blue and rose titles), and the payment of the balance of the loan of August 20, 1909. (c) Some urgent expenses of the public treasury. During the session that has just closed, I proclaim it loudly, gentlemen, you have given your entire patriotism to help me to realize the greatest amount of good possible for the benefit of the Haitian nation. The Executive on his part has neglected nothing for the purpose of presenting to you during the session all the proposals that were worthy of the attention of the representatives of the nation. But, on account of circumstances the examination of the financial reform proposals taking place only at the last hour, the secretary of state for finance did not have the time to submit them to you during the course of the ordinary session. That is why, Messrs. Senators and Deputies, I have taken the resolution to convene you in an extra session, convinced that you will take great pleasure in consecrating a few days more labor toward the work of national regeneration that we have inaugurated together during nearly two years. Since that period, gentlemen, what trouble have we not given ourselves, what anxieties have we not had, each one in his sphere of action, pursuing the solution of the same problems, to finally reach the same end. The execution of this financial program is the realization of our common dreams. It is the consolidation of the public mind which was so difficult to lay hold of, in its complexity too changing to make of it an everlasting reality. These new financial combinations are but the basis of a complete plan of government which I have never ceased to propagate and which can be summarized in a few words: The regeneration of the Republic by labor and the stability in its industrial relations with friendly powers. Notwithstanding your good will, gentlemen, you have not been able to examine all the business submitted for your deliberation during the last session. The general administration of the country at the present hour beseeching more than ever the attention of the great public powers, I will recommend to your wisdom the solution of some questions of public utility, the urgency of which has been recognized and which have already been voted by the house of deputies. With the hope that the result of your coming deliberations will strengthen still more the bonds already existing between the two great powers, I renew to you, Messrs. Senators, Messrs. Deputies, the expression of my highest consideration. A. T. SIMON. The PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary of State, the National Assembly gives you an official acknowledgment of the deposit of this document. The session is closed. HONDURAS. MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF HONDURAS TO THE HONDURANEAN CONGRESS. File No. 7357/703. No. 200.] Chargé Brown to the Secretary of State. [Extract.] AMERICAN LEGATION, Tegucigalpa, January 4, 1910. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith two copies of the annual message addressed by President Davila to the National Congress which assembled on the 1st instant. The most interesting passage, perhaps, is that referring to the question of the Central American Union. I append hereto a copy of this portion of the message, together with a translation. I have, etc., PHILIP BROWN. [Inclosure-Translation.] Message of the President of Honduras. A matter of vital interest which actually is being agitated in the whole of Central America is the much to be desired national union, an idea which received a powerful impulse from the treaties of Washington, creators of the court of justice at Cartago and of the International Central American Bureau, institutions which in every sense stimulate and nourish this idea. The neutrality declared by Honduras and recognized by the nations which subscribed to these treaties, a neutrality exacted by the circumstances in which exist the political relations of the Governments of Guatemala, Salvador, and Nicaragua, places our Government in the position of not being able to take the initiative in that grand idea; but this does not binder it from adhering to the same, once it shall be brought about by the other States, since I am firmly convinced that while these countries remain under present conditions peace will be ephemeral, a peace which exhausts our resources and which discredits us before civilized nations. I am not unaware that the States of Central America are not yet prepared to unite politically; but Honduras, because of its geographical position, being the country of the Isthmus most exposed to civil wars and seeing continually appear on its frontiers the specter of invasions, emboldened by the state of division in which we live, would, I think, be most benefited by the national union. Only in this way will cease the civil wars which have engendered the spirit of faction and personal ambition characterizing our distinct parties and which have produced no other result than anarchy in politics and society. EXTRADITION OF CHARLES VANDENBERG FROM HONDURAS TO The Acting Secretary of State to Minister McCreery. [Telegram-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Mr. Adee says the department is advised by the governor of New York that Charles N. Vandenberg, traveling under the name of Carl Nicklas or other alias, convicted of forgery in New York, is a |