You will observe that this is printed in the official paper of the
Nicaraguan Government to-day, October 17, although it was adopted by the
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Diet on September 16. It
is the only official notice this Government has given out concerning the
transfer of its diplomatic affairs from its foreign office to the
Diet.
Following the interview I held with President Zelaya, on October 15, in
which he announced that the abolition of the foreign office would take
place simultaneously with the publication of this decree, I assume that
the foreign office of Nicaragua no longer exists.
This legation will hereafter address all of its official communications
concerning the affairs of Nicaragua and Salvador to the Diet, now in
session at San Salvador.
You have doubtless received an official communication direct from the
Diet concerning this new organization, as indicated in article 10 of the
inclosed regulations.
I beg to refer you to my dispatches numbered 714 and 715 for other
information concerning this new political body.
[Inclosure in No.
716—Translation.]
Interior regulations of the Diet of the Greater
Republic of Central America.
The Diet of the Greater Republic of Central America, in accordance
with the power granted in article 3, paragraph 3, of the treaty of
Amapala, decrees the following regulations:
organization of the diet.
Article 1. The Diet is to be composed of
three regular members, each selected by the respective legislatures
of the undersigned nations to the treaty.
Article 2. There will also be three deputy
members elected in the same manner, to take the places of the
regular members in cases of absence or failure to be present.
Article 3. Annually they will elect from
among their members, either by common consent or by lot, a
president, a secretary, and a subsecretary, whose functions shall be
hereafter determined.
Article 4. The Diet will reside in
succession in cities of San Salvador, Managua, and Tegucigalpa,
selected in that order by lot, in accordance with the spirit of
article 12.
Article 5. Neither the Diet nor the members
composing the same shall have any honorary title, and they will be
designated only by the name of delegates.
duties of the diet.
Article 6. The duties of the Diet are the
same as outlined in the treaty of union.
of the president.
Article 7. The president shall preside over
the sessions of the Diet, and will speak in its name when
necessary.
Article 8. His faculties and duties are the
same as those of the other members, and he has no superiority over
them.
of the secretary.
Article 9. The secretary shall be the organ
of communication between the Diet and the governments and the
representatives of the foreign nations, notwithstanding the work
shall be divided equally between all the members of the Diet.
autographs and circulars.
Article 10. The first act of the Diet after
its installation shall be to direct autograph letters signed by all
of its members to all governments with whom the undersigned
Republics cultivate friendly relations, bringing to their knowledge
the new political organization.
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Article 11. Also a circular shall be
directed, signed by the secretary, to the accredited diplomatic
corps before the said Republics, enclosing a copy of the treaty and
offering to cultivate the same cordial relations which exist with
their respective governments.
of the sessions.
Article 12. For the transaction of business
the members of the Diet will meet daily between 8 and 12 a.m.
Article 13. The secretary shall give an
account of all pending subjects, and if by their nature they can be
acted upon without the necessity of previous consultation with one
or any of the respective governments the Diet shall immediately
decide (the question) by a majority of votes.
Article 14. For the settlement of all
subjects of interest the respective delegate will ask instructions
from his government by writing or telegraph, according to the
urgency or importance of the business.
Article 15. In the locality in which the
Diet resides the instructions can be solicited verbally from the
President of the Republic by the respective delegate.
Article 16. When the business interests all
the Governments, the instructions must be by writing, and it will be
acted upon in accordance with the opinion of a majority of the
delegates, except the case referred to in article 7 of the
treaty.
Article 17. The subjects will be acted upon
regularly in the order in which they are presented, but the
preference shall be given to such as may be desired or recommended
by the Governments.
nominations.
Article 18. As the representation abroad of
the Greater Republic must be in one person, the Diet will send
letters of withdrawal to the actual ministers plenipotentiaries and
will cancel the patents of all consuls.
Article 19. In making the new nominations
citizens of the Greater Republic shall be preferred, in default
thereof Spanish Americans, and in the absence of these such
foreigners as are actually invested with the consulships of any of
the three Republics.
reception of the foreign
ministers.
Article 20. Before a special ceremony is
decreed, the existing relations in the Republic of Salvador will be
observed as far as they are applicable.
coat of arms and flag.
Article 21. In conformity with the federal
decree of August 21, 1823, the coat of arms will be an equilateral
triangle. Its base will show a chain of five volcanoes placed upon a
territory between two oceans; above, a rainbow covering them, and
below the arch, the cap of liberty, surrounded by rays of light.
Around the triangle in circular form there will be inscribed in
letters of gold “República Mayor de Centro-América.”
Article 22. The flag will consist of three
horizontal bars, the upper and lower being blue and the center
white, on which the coat of arms will be designed.
Article 23. This flag will be hoisted by
the ministers and consuls of the Republic abroad.
Article 24. It is urged upon the
undersigned Governments that they shall decree that their national
vessels must use the same flag with the modification established in
article 4 of the above-cited decree.
of the official paper.
Article 25. The Diet will have a paper to
be called “El Federal,” in which will be published the proceedings
and such communications as should be made known, editorials and
articles which will assist in preparing public opinion for the
reconstruction of the old Republic of Central America, and any other
articles which might be agreeable to the Diet.
Article 26. Before the periodical is
established, the publication referred to in the foregoing article
shall be made in the official papers of the undersigned
Governments.
new name.
Article 27. The external individual
sovereignty being abolished and the undersigned Republics having
been consolidated into one, the Governments are urged in all
documents and official publications, and particularly in its foreign
correspondence, to use, instead of the words Republica de ——— ——,
“República Mayor de Centro-América, Estado de ——— ——.”
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of the chief of the
office.
Article 28. There will be an official chief
of the office, whose duties are as follows:
- (1)
- To be chief of the clerks and arrange among them the
office work.
- (2)
- To keep the following books: A copy of the records of the
Diet; another one of the correspondence of the secretary;
another one with the correspondence which every delegate has
with his respective Government; another to contain the
inventory of the furniture and other articles of the
office.
- (3)
- In the book of the records it is his duty to keep the
proceedings, which must be signed by all the members of the
Diet.
- (4)
- He must prepare a list of the ordinary and extraordinary
expenses of the office for the approval of the president of
the Diet, to be paid by the respective Governments.
- (5)
- To collect all the correspondence received and business
settled, to properly arrange it, and keep the archives in a
safe place.
- (6)
- To allow no one except the members of the Diet to examine
the books and correspondence.
- (7)
- To guard secretly all matters which by their nature are of
a private character.
other dispositions.
Article 29. In the office building of the
Diet there will be a room properly arranged for the reception of the
ministers plenipotentiaries, and in the meantime they will be
received in the room which will be selected by the President of the
State where the Diet may reside, who will also dictate the proper
ceremonies in order to give the act due solemnity.
Article 30. Ipso facto the offices of
foreign relations of the undersigned Governments having ceased to
exist, the communications of the Diet with these Governments will be
made through the medium of the ministers of the interior.
Article 31. The great seal of the Republic
will be a dry one, and the coat of arms the same. Autograph letters
and international treaties will be sealed with it.
Article 32. There shall be another seal in
black, having in the center the same coat of arms and around it the
words “Secretaria de la Dieta de la República Mayor de
Centro-América.” With this the official correspondence of the
secretary and such other acts as are necessary will be sealed.
Article 33. From the 1st to the 15th of
January of each year the Diet shall direct to each Government a
statement of its labors for the past year.
Article 34. The omissions and errors that
are found in the present regulations will be arranged through the
medium of special orders.
Done in San
Salvador, the 16th of September,
1896.
- E. Mendoza.
- E. Constantino
Fiallos.
- Jacinto Castellanos.
