Mr. Choate to Mr. Hay.
London, March 8, 1900.
Sir: I have the honor to report that in my interview with Lord Salisbury yesterday, in reference to his note of the 3d instant, in which he offered to purchase the flour ex Beatrice and dissented from my theory of damages stated in my note of February 6 last, I said that I had observed what he said in his letter about damages, but as he seemed ready to buy all the flour at the price at the port of destination at the date when it would have arrived if the voyage had been uninterrupted, the question of damages would be largely an academic one, to which he replied, in substance, that that was probably so, as if the owner got a full price there would not be much room to claim damages.
I have, etc.,