Mr. Taylor to Mr.
Gresham.
Legation of the United States,
Madrid, September 20,
1894. (Received September 29.)
No. 237.]
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herein, with
translation, a copy of a note from the minister of state in further
reply to my note of the 27th ultimo, asking permission for the return of
the missionaries to the isle of Ponape.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure in No.
237.—Translation.]
Señor Moret to
Mr. Taylor.
Ministry of
State,
Palace, September 18,
1894.
Excellency: With reference to my note of
August 31, which was written in answer to the note which your
excellency addressed to me on the 27th of the same month, in
relation to the return to Ponape of the Methodist missionaries, I
have to add that the minister for the colonies informs me that there
is no information in his ministry in regard to the opinion expressed
and the conduct observed by the governor of the Carolines, Señor Don
Juan de la Concha, in regard to this delicate question.
The reports of the superior authorities of the archipelago go to
prove that the circumstances which counseled the Spanish Government
to postpone the granting of the permission to return to Ponape which
the Methodist missionaries request have undergone no change, and on
this account the minister of the colonies does not think that the
moment has come to grant their request.
In communicating this to your excellency,
I seize, etc.,
