The Central American Question [pp. 550-661]

THE CENTRAL AMERICAN QUESTION.
pretexts, however weak in invention. It was by virtue of
treaties with Spain that the English obtained the right to cut
mahogany and dyewoods at Belize; but all domain or sover eignty was positively excluded. This limited and peculiar
establishment constitutes really everything to which England
can justly pretend in Central America or Mexico; and our
own government has been willing to recognise it as such. We
should inser.t the explanation that Belize is not properly a part
of Central America, but of Mexico, having formerly belonged,
probably, to the vice-royalty of Yucatan; and that the ques tions connected with it are scarcely subjects for any practical
interference on the part of our government, while there is such
a complication of parties to the issue of territorial sovereignty,
and Guatemala chooses to submit to encroachments on her
territory. It is very evident, however, that, in establishing the
dominion of so-called "British Honduras," the territorial sov ereignty was usurped, in open disregard of the terms of the
original treaty concessions; and that, not satisfied with the
false pretence of sovereignty in the premises, Great Britain
has perpetrated the bolder crime of adding to her political
estate, at the expense of the neighboring powers. The very
name itself of British Honduras is said to have been usurped
to give color to a claim to certain islands in the bay, which
had been notoriously recognised as Honduran territory.
The chief and most distinct issue made by our government
in the Central American imbroglio, had been in relation to
Ituatan and the' Bay Islands," which we refer to as having
been wrested from Honduras. The history of the foundation
of the so-called "Bay Islands Colony" is the brief one of the
open violation of law, without circuity or pretext.
What are spoken of as the "Bay Islands" comprise a number of beautiful islands dotting the Bay of Honduras. Many
of them grow valuable woods, and one of them affords the best
harbor in that part of the coast. The natives of these islands,
who were very peaceable and docile, were captured in large numbers by the early navigators, and sold as slaves in Spain; and this,
with the ravages of the pirates, almost completed the work of
depopulation. In a short time only three of the islands were
occupied by the remnants of the native population, namely,
Ruatan, Utila, and Guanaja. The most remarkable and important of these islands is Ruatan, which alone remained
inhabited down to the present century, and on which the English for more than two centuries have striven to keep a
foothold.
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