Honduras

Letter from Henry Cabot Lodge to Theodore Roosevelt

Senator Lodge was alarmed to hear of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt’s fall and sends his love. He has limited information on the Honduran and Nicaraguan treaties but will send copies to Theodore Roosevelt. Lodge does not approve of Senator Cummins’s idea for a Senate-appointed commission as part of the arbitration treaty. He believes that it would be better to have no commission than to protect their interests by such a method. Commissions are also too slow and selecting commissioners opens everyone involved to political attacks.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-06

Letter from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Second Assistant Secretary of State Alvey A. Adee informs President Roosevelt more fully about the meeting of the Central American ministers in Washington, D.C. All five ministers agreed to holding a conference overseen by Roosevelt and Mexican president Porfirio Díaz in Washington, D.C., to discuss any disputes between the countries. Adee informs Roosevelt that he and Díaz should consult about the wording of the invitation to make sure that both parties follow the same course.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-12

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Assistant Secretary of State Adee sends communications from President Porfirio Díaz of Mexico and President Fernando Figueroa of El Salvador regarding the selection of a location for the conference, with his reflections and the opinions of the Central American ministers Joaquín Bernardo Calvo Mora of Costa Rica and Luis Felipe Corea of Nicaragua. Secretary of State Elihu Root thinks Mexico would be the right choice. If Washington, D.C. is selected as the location, the conference could not be scheduled until Root returns from Mexico, following diplomatic etiquette.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-09-02

Telegram from Miguel R. Dávila to President Roosevelt

President Dávila of Honduras gladly accepts President Roosevelt’s offer to participate in peace settlements with neighboring Central American republics. Honduras has remained, and will remain, neutral.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-30

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee informs President Roosevelt the White House is sending him translations of the replies from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, which, like El Salvador, are unconditional and encouraging. The responses from Honduras and Guatemala will likely be similar.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-30

Letter from Cleto González Víquez to Theodore Roosevelt

President González Víquez of Costa Rica thanks President Roosevelt for his interest in maintaining peace in the republics of Central America and will defer to the suggestions made by him and President of Mexico Porfirio Porfirio Díaz.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-29

Letter from Porfirio Díaz to Theodore Roosevelt

President of Mexico Díaz received President Roosevelt’s draft telegram to the presidents of five American republics appealing they settle their differences through a conference. Finding no fault in it, Díaz will also send a similar telegram.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-27

Telegram from Alvey A. Adee to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Adee received a message from Mexican diplomat José F. Godoy that President of Mexico Porfirio Porfirio Díaz is intervening to prevent war between Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua and asks the United States to join. Adee includes a draft of a telegram Diaz and President Roosevelt could send to the presidents of the five Central American republics, including Honduras and Costa Rica.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-23

Letter from Alvey A. Adee to William Loeb

Acting Secretary of State Adee forwards William Loeb a message from Lientent Commander James H. Glennon from Acajutla, El Salvador, that the American armed steamer President will be transferred to El Salvador. Additionally, President Fernando Figueroa of El Salvador greatly desires American intervention. Adee suggests that while material aid is impracticable, a moral intervention would achieve the same goal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-20

Letter from Alvey A. Adee to William Loeb

Acting Secretary of State Adee encloses related items for William Loeb to update President Roosevelt on the situation in Central America and to advise on how to handle the United States’ recognition of Honduras’ provisional government and neutrality.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-08-19

Letter from David E. Thompson to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador David E. Thompson shares details of his meeting with Mexican President Porfirio Diaz concerning the political upheaval in Central America. Diaz would welcome any assistance that Roosevelt could provide him if the situation was to worsen but maintains that he would have to seek consent from the Mexican Congress and his people if he were to consider armed intervention. The opinion of both Diaz and Minister Ignacio Mariscal was to let the Central American states “fight for a little” then escort them to a peaceful resolution. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-03-07

Telegram from José Santos Zelaya to Theodore Roosevelt

President Zelaya agrees to have the present conflict between Nicaragua and Honduras arbitrated by the United States, if President Roosevelt accedes to his conditions. The people of Nicaragua, Zelaya says, are “in the same state as that of the American people when the S.S. Maine was blown up.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-13

Translation of telegram from Manuel Delgado to Elihu Root

Manuel Delgado, El Salvador’s Minister of Foreign Relations and Justice, is pleased to receive President Roosevelt’s offer to mediate a Pacific settlement between Honduras and Nicaragua. Delgado informs Secretary of State Root that President Pedro Jose Escalon conveyed this offer to Presidents Manuel Bonilla and José Santos Zelaya.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-12

Telegram from Manuel Bonilla to Theodore Roosevelt

Honduran President Manuel Bonilla updates President Roosevelt on the status of a tribunal to examine the incident between Honduras and Nicaragua. The tribunal had to disband because of the actions of the Nicaraguan government. Although Honduras wishes for peace, they are having to prepare to defend themselves against Nicaraguan aggression. Bonilla thanks Roosevelt for his offer to arrange for an arbitrator, and suggests that either the government of El Salvador or Costa Rica could serve in this capacity.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Coe Isaac Crawford

Theodore Roosevelt writes to Senator Crawford about a pair of foreign relations questions, and tells him that while he does not wish to be quoted, Crawford can share Roosevelt’s views with other progressives. Roosevelt believes that the treaty with Honduras should go ahead. While countries that develop strong governments like Chile or Argentina should be treated as equals by the United States, some Central American nations with “little disorderly governments” need “a steadying hand.” He has hesitations, on the other hand, about the arbitration treaty with Great Britain, which he lays out.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-12

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Edgar Borah

President Roosevelt recommends that Senator Borah meet with Senator Root to get Root’s opinion on the Honduras loan. He also invites Borah to lunch at Oyster Bay, New York. In a postscript, Roosevelt encourages Borah to support the amendment allowing for the popular election of United States senators only if the mode of election is changed and the federal government is prevented from controlling the elections.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-09

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Edgar Borah

Theodore Roosevelt recommends that Senator Borah meet with Senator Elihu Root to get Root’s opinion on the Honduras loan. He also invites Borah to lunch at Oyster Bay, New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-08

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Joseph Benson Foraker

President Roosevelt discusses his thoughts about the situation in Cuba with Senator Foraker.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-28

Letter from Coe Isaac Crawford to Theodore Roosevelt

Coe Isaac Crawford expresses his thanks to Theodore Roosevelt for the letter he sent concerning a treaty with Honduras and the arbitration treaty with the Great Britain. Crawford has not given much personal attention to the treaty with Honduras; however, he believes it should be ratified. He states the arbitration treaty with the Great Britain has not yet been submitted to the U.S. Senate, and as a result he has not formed a definite opinion on it until he has heard more about it. Crawford showed a letter from Roosevelt to Robert M. La Follette, and states La Follette thinks the treaty with Honduras goes to far in assisting another country. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-15

Letter from William Edgar Borah to Theodore Roosevelt

Senator Borah asks with whom he might consult regarding the apparent “beginning of a new policy in our foreign affairs” regarding the Honduras loan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-03