WASHINGTON, _April 15, 1862_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
On the 26th of June, 1860, the Senate approved of the treaty of
friendship and commerce between the United States and Nicaragua, signed
on the 16th of March, 1859, with certain amendments.
On the next day, namely, June 27, 1860, the Senate adopted a resolution
extending the period for the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty
for six months from that date; that is, until the 27th of December,
1860.
Although the amendments of the Senate were immediately transmitted to
our minister in Nicaragua for submission to the Government of that
Republic, he failed, notwithstanding earnest efforts, to induce that
Government to call an extra session of Congress to take into
consideration the amendments of the Senate of the United States within
the supplementary time named in the resolution of June 27, 1860, for the
exchange of ratifications.
It was not until the 25th of March, 1861, nearly three months after the
expiration of the six months extended by the Senate resolution, that the
Congress of Nicaragua acted favorably upon the amendments of the Senate
of the United States.
A translation of the decree of the Nicaraguan Government approving the
treaty as amended, with an additional amendment, is herewith inclosed.
It will be perceived that while the ratification of Nicaragua recites
literally the second amendment of the Senate and accepts it with an
additional clause, it does not in explicit terms accept the first
amendment of the Senate, striking out the last clause of the sixteenth
article.
That amendment is of so much importance that the adoption or rejection
of it by the Government of Nicaragua should not be left to construction
or inference.
The final amendment of that Government properly extended the time of
exchanging ratifications for an additional twelve months. That time has
expired. For obvious reasons connected with our internal affairs, the
subject has not sooner been submitted to the Senate, but the treaty is
now laid before that body, with this brief historical sketch and the
decree of the Nicaraguan Government, for such further advice as may be
deemed necessary and proper in regard to the acceptance or rejection of
the amendments of Nicaragua.