the Government of the United States, as their cause was the same as that which this country had defended over thirty years before, and also for other obvious reasons. The United States Government was very careful to comply with its obligations, and not to give any wellgrounded cause of complaint to the Spanish Government. The people of the United States and many prominent members of Congress heartily sympathized with the movement for independence in the SpanishAmerican colonies, and resolutions were introduced in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress asking their recognition, which were either not acted upon or voted down, as I will presently briefly state. The United States Government sent agents and commissioners to the revolted colonies to examine and report upon their situation; and the governments established in the new nations also sent commissioners to the United States for the purpose of asking recogni

tion.

The facts which I have already presented show that on March 8, 1822, when Mr. Monroe asked Congress to recognize the independence of the Spanish colonies in America, Mexico, the Central American States, New Granada, Venezuela, Buenos Ayres, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chili had fully accomplished their independence, and in Ecuador and Peru independence was practically accomplished, as Bolivar's army was then fighting under General Sucre in Ecuador, and the Spanish Viceroy had evacuated Lima, on July 6, 1821, as a result of San Martin's manœuvres.

I do not blame the United States for not having made that recognition, because the recognition of independence is the acknowledgment of a fact which cannot be recognized before it has actually occurred. Any other conduct would have implied an alliance between the revolted colonies and the United States, and it would have been unreasonable for the colonies to expect this country to enter into any such alliance with them.

It would take a great deal more space than it is proper for me to occupy, were I to quote the many declarations of American statesmen expressing the attitude of the United States Government in this case and the reasons for the same, and I will, therefore, only quote one of Mr. John Quincy Adams, from a report which he made as Secretary of State to President Monroe, dated August 24, 1816, published in Wharton's International Law Digest, paragraph 70, Chapter III., page 521, Volume I., second edition:

"There is a stage in such revolutionary contests when the party struggling for independence has, as I conceive, a right to demand its acknowledgment by neutral parties, and when the acknowledgment may be granted without departure from the obligations of neutrality. It is the stage when the independence is established as matter of fact, so as to leave the chances of the opposite party to recover their do

minion utterly desperate. The neutral nation must, of course, judge for itself when this period has arrived; and as the belligerent nation has the same right to judge for itself, it is very likely to judge differently from the neutral, and to make it a cause of pretext for war, as Great Britain did expressly against France in our Revolution, and substantially against Holland. If war thus results, in point of fact, from the measure of recognizing the contested independence, the moral right or wrong of the war depends upon the justice and sincerity and prudence with which the recognizing nation took the step. I am satisfied that the cause of the South Americans, so far as it consists in the assertion of independence against Spain, is just. But the justice of a cause, however it may enlist individual feelings in its favor, is not sufficient to justify third parties in siding with it. The fact and the right combined can alone authorize a neutral to acknowledge a new and disputed sovereignty."

The cause of independence awoke in the people of the United States a very deep sympathy, which was felt in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, as I will soon state.

The correctness of this statement appears very clearly from the following extract from a letter addressed by Mr. Gallatin, United States Minister at Paris, to Mr. John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, on November 5, 1818, and published in Wharton's International Law Digest, paragraph 70, Chapter III., page 522, Volume I., second edition:

"I had upon every occasion stated that the general opinion of the United States must irresistibly lead to such a recognition; that it is a question, not of interest, but of feeling, and that this arose much less from the wish of seeing new republics established, than that of the emancipation of Spanish-America from Europe. . . We have not, either directly or indirectly, excited the insurrection. It had been the spontaneous act of the inhabitants, and the natural effect of causes, which neither the United States nor Europe could have controlled. We had lent no assistance to either party; we had preserved a strict neutrality. But no European government could be surprised or displeased that in such a cause our wishes should be in favor of the success of the colonies, or that we should treat as independent powers those amongst them which had in fact established their independence."

On January 2, 1819, President Monroe's Cabinet considered the question of the recognition of Buenos Ayres. The Cabinet was divided on the question, Mr. Calhoun being of opinion that this country should act in concurrence with Great Britain, Mr. Crawford that it should send a minister to Buenos Ayres, and Mr. Adams thinking that the Minister should come from Buenos Ayres seeking recognition.

In 1822, when independence had been achieved in Mexico, Central America, and almost in all the South American colonies, President Monroe decided that it was time for the United States to recognize that fact, and in a very able message, which he sent to Congress on March 8th, of that year, he recommended that such recognition be made, supporting his recommendation with reasons as solid as they were unanswerable. The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of

Representatives acted at once on that recommendation, and, on the 19th of the same month, Mr. Russell, of Massachusetts, on behalf of that committee, presented to the House a very able report, recommending that the House of Representatives concur in the opinion expressed by the President in the above-mentioned message, that 'the late American provinces of Spain that have declared their independence and are in the enjoyment of it, ought to be recognized by the United States as independent nations," and that "the Committee on Ways and Means be instructed to report a bill appropriating a sum not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, to enable the President to give due effect to such provision." The House approved these resolutions, and, the appropriation having passed Congress, the independence of the American nations was thus recognized by the United States.

After this statement of facts, it is not strange that Mr. Lyman in his book, Diplomacy of the United States, should have said: "These revolutionary struggles did not awaken any great interest in our citizens." "Our Government," he adds, was left free and unembarrassed to pursue its steady course of good faith and exact neutrality toward Spain, and of justice and policy towards the colonies." further says: "Neither the vicinity of some portions of their respective territories, nor the circumstance of being members of the same continent, nor the benefit to be derived from commercial relations, nor the similarity of their struggles for independence, appears in the least to have influenced the definite arrangements of this Government. On the contrary, the business was conducted with the utmost caution and circumspection, and nothing was done to give offence to Spain, or awaken in other nations the slightest suspicion of the loyalty with which this country was determined to adhere to its system of neutrality."

Mr. Lyman concludes by saying that the United States was the first country to recognize the independence of the Spanish-American colonies, but that the recognition was delayed until not a shadow of hope for the restoration of Spanish dominion remained.

Recognition of Belligerency by the United States.-Long before the United States Government recognized the independence of the revolted colonies, it had recognized their belligerency.'

1 Although Senator Money does not refer particularly to the recognition of belligerency of the revolted Spanish colonies in America by the United States, he presents the results of the same as proving the material assistance of the United States Government to the colonies. Far from tending to lessen the importance of the recognition of belligerency I, on the contrary, recognize it, not only as an act of justice, but also as a favor. Although, generally speaking, the granting of what one considers to be a right, is not regarded as a favor, nevertheless it is one, when the third party can, in the exercise of its sovereignty, ignore the right, as it can do, when it is the only judge of its obligations and when there is no way to compel its recognition except by force, which was in this case, of course, altogether out of the question.

I have not been able to find the date of any declaration, if any was formally made, by which the United States recognized the belligerency of the revolted Spanish colonies. In Mr. Monroe's message of March 8, 1822, he said that they had enjoyed belligerent rights. He made the same statement in his annual messages of December 2, 1817, and → December 7, 1819, as in the former he said "that the United States has maintained impartial neutrality between Spain and its provinces, our ports have been open to both, etc.," a statement which he corroborates in the latter in the following words: "An impartial neutrality has been followed in the civil war between Spain and the Spanish Provinces in America, and our ports have continued to be

equally open to both parties, etc."

I must here observe that several of the revolted Spanish colonies had from the beginning of the struggle armies which could compete with and which often defeated the best troops of the Spanish army that had fought in the Peninsula against Napoleon; had issued constitutions and organized regular governments, had in some cases improvised a navy which defeated the Spanish naval forces, and had captured and held their respective capitals, and that they were really engaged in making a lawful war of independence against the mother-country.

But that recognition did not, of course, prevent the United States Government from enforcing its neutrality laws, as appears from a list, transmitted by the Secretary of State on January 10, 1817, of the individuals and vessels prosecuted during 1815 for violating the neutrality of the United States in the United Provinces of New Granada and the United Provinces of Mexico.

The United States Congress on Recognition.—As early as December 10, 1811, a resolution was reported by a committee of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, on the recognition of the independence of the South American Provinces, which was not acted upon. Several others were afterwards introduced in the House of Representatives expressing sympathy with the insurrection of the

American colonies.

On March 24, 1818, Henry Clay, who felt great sympathy for the struggling Spanish colonies, and sought to obtain their recognition through legislative action, proposed an appropriation of $18,000 for the outfit and one year's salary of a minister to be deputed from the United States to the independent provinces of the River Plata in South America. This motion led to a discussion as to whether the power of recognizing foreign governments resided in the Executive or in Congress. The majority of the House seemed to be in favor of the Executive, and the motion was defeated on May 28th, by a vote of 115 to 45.

Mr. Clay renewed his resolution, which was discussed by the House

on May 10, 1820, asserting "that it was expedient to provide by law a suitable outfit for such minister or ministers as the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, may send to any of the governments of South America which have established and are maintaining their independence of Spain," and this resolution was carried. by a vote of 80 to 75. On February 9, 1821, Mr. Clay again moved his $10,000 appropriation bill for a minister to any South American government" which has established and is maintaining its independence of Spain." This was lost by a vote of 86 to 79. On the following day he introduced a resolution expressing "the interest of the people of the United States, which was shared by the House of Representatives, in the success of the Spanish provinces of South America struggling to establish their liberty and independence, and offering its constitutional support to the President of the United States, whenever he may deem it expedient to recognize the sovereignty and independence of any of said provinces." The first clause of this resolution was carried by a vote of 134 to 12 and the second by a vote of 87 to 68. A committee of two members was appointed to lay these resolutions before the President, and Mr. Clay, one of those members, in his report of February 19th, said that the President assured the committee that he felt a great interest in the success of the provinces of South America and that he would take the resolution into deliberate consideration with the most perfect respect for the distinguished body from which it had emanated."'

On January 31, 1822, Mr. Trimble of Kentucky introduced a joint resolution stating that the "President was authorized and requested to acknowledge the independence of the Republics of Colombia, and that the Spanish provinces of South America that had established and were maintaining their independence of Spain ought to be acknowledged." Before this resolution was acted upon, Mr. Nelson of Virginia introduced another resolution asking the President to lay before the House the documents relating to the South American question, and in response to this resolution President Monroe sent to the House his message of March 8, 1822, already referred to, in which he stated that, in his opinion, the time had come to recognize the South American provinces as independent countries. Thereupon Mr. Russell, of Massachusetts, in behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, introduced two resolutions, also just referred to, which were approved by the House, and thus constituted the recognition by the United States Government of the independent nations of America.

Commissioners Sent by the Revolted Colonies to the United States.—The leaders of the independent cause in Spanish-America sent Commissioners to the United States for the purpose of obtaining the recognition by this Government of their independence, and, if possible, material assistance.