Mr. Strobel to Mr. Gresham.
Quito, December 18, 1894. (Received Jan. 14.)
Sir: After the rejection by the Congress of Ecuador of the Garcia-Herrera treaty for the settlement of the boundary question with Peru, reported in my No. 11, of August 2 last, negotiations were reopened at Lima in pursuance of the authority conferred upon the President. Colombia insisted upon taking part in a conference as an interested party, and her claim was allowed. Bolivia also made a like attempt, but it was ineffectual.
I now have the honor to report that the President of this Republic received yesterday a telegram from Mr. Castro, the representative of Ecuador, stating that the result of the conference was the signing of a treaty by the representatives of the three Republics, providing for the settlement by arbitration of their conflicting territorial claims.
The telegram also states that Spain is to be the arbitrator, and that the decision is to be made not merely upon the records and arguments of law, but also with due consideration for the natural claims of the contestants, which would seem to imply that the final judgment should concede to each country an outlet to the Atlantic by the Amazon and its tributaries.
I have, etc.,