ed a reluctant
Senate to acquiesce. The arrangement has worked admirably. In spite
of the criticism that this policy encountered, the Taft administration
not only continued it in Santo Domingo, but tried to extend it to
Nicaragua and Honduras. In January, 1911, a treaty placing the
finances of Honduras under the supervision of the United States was
signed by Secretary Knox, and in June a similar treaty was signed with
Nicaragua. These treaties provided for the refunding of the foreign
debt, in each case through loans made by American bankers and secured
by the customs duties, the collector in each case to be approved by the
United States and to make an annual report to the Department of State.
These treaties were not ratified by the Senate.

Secretary Knox then tried another solution of the question. On
February 26, 1913, a new treaty with Nicaragua was submitted to the
Senate by the terms of which Nicaragua agreed to give the United States
an exclusive right of way for a canal through her territory and a naval
base in Fonseca Bay, in return for the payment of three millions of
dollars. The Senate failed to act on this treaty, as the close of the
Taft administration was then at hand. The Wilson administration
followed the same policy, however, and in July, 1913, Mr. Bryan
submitted to the Senate a third treaty with Nicaragua containing the
provisions of the second Knox treaty and in addition certain provisions
of the Platt amendment, which defines our protectorate over Cuba. This
treaty aroused strong opposition in the other Central American states,
and Costa Rica, Salvador, and Honduras filed formal protests with the
United States Government against its ratification on the ground that it
would convert Nicaragua into a protectorate of the United States and
thus defeat the long-cherished plan for a union of the Central American
republics. The Senate of the United States objected to the
protectorate feature of the treaty and refused to ratify it, but the
negotiations were renewed by the Wilson administration and on February
18, 1916, a new treaty, which omits the provisions of the Platt
amendment, was accepted by the Senate. This treaty grants to the
United States in perpetuity the exclusive right to construct a canal by
way of the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, and leases to the United
States for ninety-nine years a naval base on the Gulf of Fonseca, and
also the Great Corn and Little Corn islands as coalin