Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 2, 1902
Mr. Hunter to Mr. Hay.
Guatemala , February 26, 1902 .
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the Governments of Belgium, England, France, Germany, and Italy, through their respective diplomatic representatives here, addressed a joint note to the Government of Guatemala on September 4 last, regarding the bonds of Guatemala, known as the external debt, approximating £l,600,000, now controlled by a committee in London.
The diplomatic representatives here of the powers on this continent were neither asked to join in the note, nor were they consulted regarding it.
Not being able to obtain from these representatives any information regarding their note, I intimated to the President that a copy of the correspondence on the subject for transmission to Washington would be gratifying to me. He at once ordered that a copy be sent me, the original of which and translation of same you will please find hereto attached.
I should add that not only this external debt, but internal obligations of about $60,000,000 (silver) as well, existed when President Cabrera came into power. An earnest effort is now being made by him to effect an honorable arrangement of the entire debt, and I am quite sure that he will soon succeed if not menaced by unreasonable demands.
I have, etc.,
The German minister to the Guatemalan minister of foreign affairs .b
Mr. Minister: In the year 1895 the Government of Guatemala had entered into arrangements with the corporation of foreign bondholders which actuated in union with the committee of the Guatemalan external-debt bondholders and for which the exportation duties on coffee “irrevocably fixed at $1.50 gold per quintal for ten years,” [Page 570] was assigned to the bondholders with full approval of the legislature as a guaranty for the payment of the debt.
This was not the first occasion in which the bondholders had submitted their just claims to considerable reductions, with the view of obtaining surer guaranties for the debt; for in 1887, after an omission of eleven years, Guatemala agreed that a part of the maritime duties should be paid to a committee of the representatives of the creditors; yet, after the lapse of another six years, the Government of Guatemala was at fault with its pledges, and in 1895 the new arrangement was entered upon, as above mentioned.
By an ulterior agreement had in 1896, the Government of Guatemala pledged itself to deliver the bonds representing the coffee duties directly to the Banco de Guatemala, agent of the bondholders of the debt, who had to keep the bonds, to send them to the Deutsche Bank in London, and to collect from the sale in property the required amounts.
In December, 1897, the Government of Guatemala, without consulting the bondholders, entered into a contract with the new German syndicate of Hamburg for an advance upon the coffee bonds (already engaged to the bondholders of the debt), the syndicate taking the charge of setting aside part of the product of the sale of said bonds to satisfy the amount necessary for the service of the external debt. But as a consequence of a decree of April, 1898, by which the Government of Guatemala reduced the duties on coffee by two-thirds—that is to say, from $1.50 gold to $1 silver, the German syndicate notified that it found it impossible to continue attending the service of the debt, and another arrangement was entered into with the Government of Guatemala and the bondholders by which the interest of the external debt was reduced for a period of three years from 4 per cent per annum cash, to 2 per cent per annum in certificates, under the guaranty of a banking house accepted by the committee of bondholders. In this arrangement, the bondholders again submitted to such a considerable reduction in the outset, having reduced the required amount for the payment of the interest on the debt and its sinking fund from about £75,000 to £30,000 annually.
The coupons corresponding to December 31, 1898, and June, 1899, were paid off according the settlement of 1898, but those of December 31, 1899, etc., have not yet been canceled.
The state of affairs is to-day as follows:
- I.
- As the Government of Guatemala has only paid since November 18, 1898, 2 per cent in gold, it remains owing for the interest on the external debt £1,480,800—4 per cent cash, 6 per cent certificates, being changeable on the 1st of July, 1901, for new definitive titles of the external debt.
- II.
- The coupons payable on the 31st of December, 1901, and all the subsequent coupons shall be paid cash at the rate of 4 per cent complete per annum.
- III.
- During the seven years which commence on the 1st of July, 1901, and end on the 30th of June, 1908, the sinking fund must be at the rate of £6,000 per annum; after June 30, 1908, the same fund increases to £15,000 per annum.
- IV.
- According to article 7 of the agreement had on November 8, 1898, the rights granted to the bondholders by another of July 11, 1895, will remain subsistent. It is therefore plain that from July 1, 1901, the article 9 of said agreement which says: “That during ten years counted from July 1, 1895, the actual duty of $1.50 gold (6 shillings English money) shall be maintained,” came again in vigor; these were to be applied to the payment of the interest and sinking fund of the external debt.
The German Government together with those of Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Italy (sic) has recommended me to seriously call the attention of the Guatemalan Government to the urgent necessity of taking, without delay, measures to fulfill its pledges toward the external debt bondholders.
Begging your excellency to communicate the above to His Excellency the President of the Republic, and inform me as soon as possible of the result obtained from the same, I avail myself of the opportunity, etc.
The Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs to the German minister. a
Guatemala , September 6, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your excellency’s communication dated 4th instant, and delivered to me yesterday, referring to the instructs ions [Page 571] sent to your excellency by your Government to the effect of calling jointly with the representatives of France, Belgium, Great Britain, and Italy, the attention of the Guatemalan Government to the urgent necessity to take without delay measures to fulfill its pledges with the bondholders of the English debt.
In order to comply with your excellency’s wishes, I will have the honor to expose your said communication to the President of the Republic, and I am pleased to express to your excellency that the Government will give preferent attention to this claim, and after the careful examination which it deserves I will, within a short time, have the satisfaction to give your excellency corresponding answer.
Accept, etc.,
The Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs to the German minister. a
Guatemala , September 16, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: Opportunely I received your favor of the 4th instant, in which your excellency, in representation of the German Government and in accordance with those of Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Italy, calls the attention of Guatemala to the urgent necessity of taking without delay measures to fulfill the pledges contracted with the bondholders of the English debt.
Please, your excellency, allow me, that, without entering into details of the numerical operations it embraces, as it is contained in settlements which have been converted into that of November 18, 1898; and occupying myself, in first place, with the principal point of the claim, I have the honor to expose to your excellency, in answer to your referred communication, so that you may be pleased to impart the same to your illustrious Government, that Guatemala, whose acts bear in all cases the stamp of honor, is in the best disposition, as it always has been, to fulfill all and every one of its engaged pledges, and accordingly is taking the proper measures to arrive at a satisfactory settlement of the question, as public conscience may well aver, the instructions having already been sent by cable to-day to our envoy extraordinary before the courts of Europe, Dr. Fernando Cruz, advising him to go to London and make an arrangement with the bondholders; and, moreover, this mail will convey to Dr. Cruz full particulars in the way to enter into negotiations which may put an end to the actual economical difficulties, besides of the subsequent steps the Government will accord to this respect.
The nearly universal crisis which has, in a great part, affected the American countries has weighed upon the financial situation of Guatemala, but notwithstanding, though at a cost of painful sacrifices, large amounts owed to foreigners have been paid off, as your excellency will please to acknowledge, since for that object $8,520,274.99 have been paid within the last two years and a half of Mr. Estrada Cabrera’s Presidency. The memorandum which I have the honor to adjoin will certify to the assertion.
The Government of Guatemala has, therefore, made and will continue to make the greatest efforts to satisfy, as soon as possible, the debts owed to foreigners, and the high justification of the Government which your excellency so worthily represents being granted, I flatter myself to hope that with the measures taken the wishes expressed in the important communication of your excellency will be entirely satisfied.
I avail, etc.,
The Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs to the minister of France. b
Guatemala , September 16, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I had the honor to receive the favor of your excellency dated the 4th instant, in which, together with the Governments of Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, and Italy, you call the attention of Guatemala toward the urgent necessity [Page 572] to dictate without delay measures in order to fulfill the pledges contracted with the bondholders of the English debt.
My Government believes, sir, that the fact of your excellency having associated yourself with the worthy representatives of Germany and His Britannic Majesty for the above-mentioned claim has only in view the idea, worthy of praise, that by your interposition the matter would come to a prompt and satisfactory solution which both Governments pursue, earnestly thanking your excellency for the same.
Guatemala, which has always been guided by the firm intention to fulfill its pledges, has never in the least entertained the idea that your excellency and your Government should ever give signs of opposition to this country, and much less that the friendly steps taken by your excellency in regard to this question might bear distinct character.
The Government of Guatemala hopes that, with the information made this day to the honorable representatives of Germany and England to the effect that immediate instructions were sent to the Guatemalan minister before the European courts, Dr. Fernando Cruz, advising him to make an arrangement with the bondholders of the English debt in the most satisfactory manner for both parties, will meet with the friendly wishes expressed by your excellency and those of the nation which you so worthily represent.
Please accept, etc.,
The Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs to the German minister.
Guatemala , September 16, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to answer the favor of your excellency dated the 4th instant, relative to the payment to German citizens by the national treasury of Guatemala.
A decree which orders the conversion into bonds of certain debts, therein comprised those of certain German citizens, was issued by the legislature, and the Government of Guatemala has been and is in the unavoidable necessity to duly abide by such a resolution which comes from one of the state powers, a resolution which, according to the fundamental law, there is no faculty for altering.
Moreover, allow me to say that the Government, though at a cost of painful sacrifices, and notwithstanding the sad financial situation of the country, has, in the measure of its capacities, been paying off to German citizens amounts owed to them and which are not converted into bonds; and so it is that only to the German syndicate, with whom a short time ago an agreement was signed, was paid during the last two years and a half the amount of $4,505,081.60, the Government having in the same period canceled on account of foreign claims a total of $8,520,274.90.
Therefore the Government is confident that it has not in any manner failed to comply in the course of its proceedings with the principles of equity and observe the rights which the treaty of 1887 guaranties to the German Empire; and then, it can not be said that the clause relative to the nation more favored has been neglected; the credit of R. H. May, of the United States, which is being paid, coming from an arbitral decision pronounced against Guatemala after said legislative decree was issued and whose adverse resolution was not possibly expected.
However it may be, the Government, desiring to pay all legitimate claims that are pending, is actually taking the necessary steps for the settlement of its economical difficulties in order to extinguish as soon as possible the debts not included in the above referred legislative decree.
I avail, etc.,
The Italian minister to the Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs. a
Guatemala , September 18, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I was honored with the receipt of the favor of your excellency dated 16th instant.
Referring myself to the paragraph in which your excellency explains the views of [Page 573] his Government with regard to the fact of my having joined with my colleagues of Germany and Great Britain in the collective note to suggest to the Government of Guatemala the urgent necessity of adopting adequate measures to fulfill its pledges with the bondholders of the “external debt,” I am compelled to call the attention of your excellency to this particular, viz, that I have not only associated myself with the representatives of Germany and Great Britain, but, really, in the collective action taken by the same, together with those of Belgium and France, and that in accordance with an understanding to which our respective Governments have come to that effect.
It seems to me, therefore, that your excellency has misunderstood the true meaning of the notes of the 4th instant addressed to your excellency by the representatives of Belgium, France, Germany, and Great Britain. Each one of these powers, together with Italy, has not certainly taken into consideration the more or less important question of the interests that its citizens might have in the external debt of Guatemala, but chiefly had in view the question of international interest, greatly injured by the fact that the Government of Guatemala has failed to fulfill its pledges in regard to the debt which is now under consideration.
The question appearing now on its real ground, the action taken by the representative of Italy, jointly with his colleagues of the other interested powers, remains clearly explained and justified; that is to say, to insist upon the Government of Guatemala arriving at a prompt and satisfactory settlement, in the briefest delay possible, of this question of the external debt, abstraction being made of any particular nationality.
In view of the foregoing I am compelled to ask from your excellency a reply identical to that given to the representatives of Germany and Great Britain.
Please, your excellency, accept, etc.,
The German minister to the Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs.
Guatemala , September 20, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I have received the favor of your excellency dated 16th instant, in which I am informed that your excellency’s Government, wishing to pay all legitimate credits, is actually taking the necessary steps for the arrangement of its economical difficulties, and so as to be able, as soon as possible, to pay the debts not included in the legislative decree No. 440 with reference to conversion into bonds.
Hoping to receive from your excellency definite indications of the period upon which the Government intends to arrange said claims, I find myself compelled, together with my colleagues of Belgium, France, and England, to renew the protest which this legation has sent to your Government and to insist that the German credits be at last excepted from the determinations of the above-mentioned law.
Also, the doubts alluded to by your excellency will have no effect, and I must say again that the situation has considerably changed since your Government has commenced paying, in the month of May last, the pro rata of R. H. May, recognized on November 16, 1900, by arbitration, following with the payment of interests.
A deplorable state of affairs has been then created to the German credits which had been recognized prior to that of R. H. May against citizens of the United States of America, and I feel compelled to reaffirm that such proceedings are offensive, not only to the principles of equity, but also to the rights of the nation more favored, guaranteed to the German Empire by the treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation and consular convention signed on September 20, 1887, with the Republic of Guatemala. Taking them as a base, I feel it my duty to claim at least equal treatment of the German credits: Furrer & Hastedt, Lorens Eyssen, and others.
Calling once more the attention of the Government of Guatemala toward said points, I pray your excellency to enable me as soon as possible to inform my Government that my representation has succeeded in obtaining a favorable solution.
This occasion affords me the honor to remain, etc.,
The Belgian minister to the Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs. a
Guatemala , September 20, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of the favor of your excellency dated 16th instant, in which you communicate to me that your Government, being desirous to pay all the legitimate debts which stand against it, is actually endeavoring to arrive at a final arrangement of its economical difficulties, and thereby be able to cancel, as soon as possible, “the debts not comprehended in legislative decree No. 440 upon conversion into bonds.”
Though hoping that your excellency will afford me the information of the precise time at which your Government intends to arrive at such a desired settlement of its credits, and that as soon as practicable, and for which I will thank you, I am compelled to join in with my colleagues of Germany, England, and France in the serious renewal of the protests which this legation has made to the Government of Guatemala, and to insist, once more for the last, upon the exclusion of my cocitizens’ credits from the legislative measure above referred.
Calling once more the attention of Guatemala toward this point, I trust that your excellency will place me, within the briefest delay, in the capacity of informing my Government that a satisfactory reply was given to this my present communication.
Please accept, etc.
The Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs to the chargé d’affaires of Belgium .b
Guatemala , September 30, 1901 .
Honorable Sir: I had the pleasure to receive your favor dated 18th instant, in which your excellency refers himself to a paragraph of my note of the 16th explaining that since he acts according to the instructions received from his Government, equal to those received by the honorable representatives of Germany, France, Great Britain, and Italy, your excellency desires an answer conceived in the same terms as that addressed to his above-mentioned colleagues.
I regret, honorable sir, that on reading your worthy note of the 4th instant, I failed to fully realize the importance of its contents, judging by your attentive communication to which I have had the honor to answer.
Believing, then, since no allusion on the subject is made in your note of the 4th instant, that the Government of His Majesty the King of Belgium had no direct interest in the case, since no citizens of that country were participants, I had to accept the communication of your excellency simply as a measure in which he friend-lily associated himself jointly with his honorable colleagues of Germany, France, Great Britain, and Italy.
On the strength of this belief I judged that my first answer, complying with international courtesy, was sufficiently explicative to satisfy the parties directly interested as those who were not, and I also was conscious that I had complied in two instances with the wishes of your excellency, since I anticipated them by supplying all the information I was pleased to submit to your honorable colleagues. Such, then, would appear to be the origin of the difference between the notes I addressed to the representatives of Germany, France, Great Britain, and Italy and your excellency.
Now that your excellency, through the communication I have pleasure to answer, has deemed convenient to rectify the idea of having joined with apparently equal interest to those of Great Britain, etc., and on the other hand my own Government viewing the interposition of your excellency and that of your honorable colleagues as a friendly indication to urge Guatemala in taking the necessary steps in order to arrive at a prompt and equitable settlement with the bondholders of the English debt; and, moreover, I am glad to inform your excellency that my Government, always guided by the intention of ever filling its obligations in an honorable manner, is now acting in conformity with all the exigencies of the question pending.
[Page 575]To this effect, special instructions have been sent to our representative in Europe, advising him to repair to London and enter into arrangements with the bondholders of said debt.
Hoping that I have succeeded in complying with the wishes expressed by your excellency, I am, etc.,
The British minister to the Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs. a
Guatemala , September 23, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note of your excellency dated 16th instant, in which you inform me that instructions have been sent to Señor Cruz to the effect that he might repair to London, with the view of meeting and negotiating with the committee of foreign bondholders and, moreover, with the object of making arrangements which would place the Government of Guatemala in position to face its pledges.
Although I shall communicate without delay this information to His British Majesty’s Government, I can not refrain from calling your attention, in agreement with my colleagues of Belgium, France, Germany, and Italy, to the fact that, no specified time being mentioned as to when the Government of Guatemala will fulfill its pledges, this would entail an indefinite latitude, which fails to answer the purposes of a definite arrangement, and therefore a special reserve should be made in regard to a fixed time for the same.
Consequently, I would venture to suggest to the Government of your excellency that the payment obtained under the action taken by Señor Cruz should be made no later than the 31st of December of the present year, and I shall submit this date to the Government of His British Majesty with the object of receiving further instructions.
As to the list inclosed in the note of your excellency, which shows that since 1899 $8,500,000 have been paid by the Government of Guatemala to foreigners, it does not follow that because such disbursements have been made the fact should be taken into consideration when the credits of others who are entitled to the same nature of payments have failed to be canceled.
I avail, etc.,
The Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs to the German minister. b
Guatemala , September 30, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to answer the most esteemed note of your excellency, addressed to me under date of the 20th instant, in which, making reference to mine of the 16th, you are pleased to ask my Government to furnish you with definite indications of the time necessary to arrive at a final settlement of the fiscal debts which your honorable legation alluded to in the note of the 4th, and also make certain suggestions with regard to the credits which were subject to conversion in bonds by a law of the Republic, and among which appear several belonging to German citizens.
The very nature of the measures taken by my Government, as I have had the honor to state to you, in order to arrive at a final settlement of its external debt and all other credits, do not afford it to fix a precise time in which to carry out such well wished for designs, as such results do not only lie within the domain of its own will, but also in the concurrence of that of a great many; as it happens in cases of the same nature, the Executive would endanger his own dignity, pledging himself to the fulfillment [Page 576] of a contract at a denned time when circumstances independent of his will, would find him unable to meet his engagements at the time specified; notwithstanding, I take pleasure to inform your excellency that my Government is still pursuing with energy the course it has followed and to which I referred in my note of the 16th instant, and I can add that if, before the assembling of the legislature, it is possible to meet with your excellency’s desire, my Government will feel highly satisfied, as it always has been, to comply with the requirements of your excellency.
Your excellency also deems convenient to insist on the point that the credits of the German citizens against Guatemala should be excluded from the effects of the laws couched in the decree No. 440, and also appears to believe that, in setting aside such an exclusion, the principles of equity and justice would be offended.
May I be permitted to observe to your excellency that, in so doing, the very fact of admitting such an exclusion would become a real offense against those principles?
When the conversion into bonds of some fiscal debts was decreed, an act which obeys unavoidable necessities of the treasury and not issued taking into account the persons individually, but only the nature of the debt, it resulted, as a logical consequence not to be eluded, that among the creditors were a number of foreigners and Guatemalans. To make an exception in favor of individuals of a nationality to the prejudice of those of another would certainly be unjustifiable to the principles of equity. To establish such an exception in favor of individuals of a foreign colony, however worthy of consideration it may be, as the German undoubtedly is, overlooking the national creditors subject to said law, not only would be unjustifiable before the principles of equity, but in so doing a violation of the laws of public rights would then exist. According to said law, the foreigners residing in a country can arrive with regard to franchises and rights at a point of equal standing with the citizens of that country without being entitled to any further prerogatives.
But above all that has been said on the subject I feel a great pleasure in assuring your excellency that my Government will do its utmost, without any further indications, on your part, to urge the means that are being taken for the general arrangement of the financial situation of the country and as a consequence be able to include in such arrangement the credits above mentioned, without injuring a legislative disposition by which my Government must be the first to abide.
Concerning the payment made to R. H. May, to which you have reference, allow me to say that, in my judgment, it does not entail any violation of the clause regarding the rights of the nation more favored, stipulated in the treaty with the German Empire, signed on September 30, 1887, as I briefly bring it to the recollection of your excellency.
My Government did not recognize any debt owed to R. H. May when he presented his claim to such, and he having proposed to submit it to an arbitration, Guatemala accepted, inasmuch as the circumstances created no objection to arbitration and also that it was a decorous means to avoid any difficulty with a friendly country. The decision favored May, and the Government found itself compelled to submit to an obligatory judgment which implied an indemnity to the claimant.
So it is, then, your excellency will be pleased to agree, that while the clause of the nation more favored can be applied when related with commercial transactions between both countries and are voluntary acts of contracting governments; but not so in acts where commerce is not interested and that are independent from the voluntary action of said Governments, hence outside of the regular and normal proceedings.
May I be allowed to entertain the hope that your excellency, seconded by his illustrated wisdom, will duly appreciate the foregoing exposition of the facts and remain firmly convinced of the honorable conduct observed by my Government in this question?
Please accept, etc.,
The British minister to the Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs.
Guatemala , October 5, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: Your excellency informs me in your note of the 30th ultimo that the Government of Guatemala, independent of its own will, is unable to fix the date for the arrangement (or payment) of the external debt and others, but, notwithstanding, will persevere in the measures taken for this purpose, as expressed in your [Page 577] excellency’s communication of the 16th, and with the intention of complying with my wishes, before the opening of the session of the national assembly.
Your excellency also states that your Government will exert all its efforts in order to arrive at a general settlement of the financial difficulties of the country, more insistence on my part being unnecessary, and doubtless that the debts in question shall be included in said arrangement without any infringement against the legislative measure which your Government is the first to guard and respect.
With satisfaction I take for granted the assurances offered by your excellency, but, nevertheless, and at the proper time, I deplore that the contents of my note of the 20th failed to entirely convince your excellency, and I must fully maintain the protests of my Government against the application of legislative laws Nos. 440 and 494 to British creditors.
I therefore reserve for myself the right of arguing this question again at the required time.
I shall duly communicate your excellency’s note to my Government.
Availing myself of this opportunity, etc.,
The Belgian chargé d’affaires to the Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs. a
Guatemala , December 17, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: Referring to my notes of September 28 and October 5 last, I have the honor to ask of your excellency to favor me with the information as to the dispositions taken by the Government of Guatemala on the two following points: First, about the final resolution on the payment of the external-debt bondholders; and second, on the subject of satisfying the claims of a certain number of my cocitizens.
Being compelled to send to my Government, prior to the last of this month, information upon those two particulars, I would thank very much your excellency for a reply as soon as possible.
Please accept, etc.,
The Guatemalan minister for foreign affairs to the German minister .b
Guatemala , December 27, 1901 .
Mr. Minister: I have had the honor to receive the esteemed note of your excellency, dated 17th instant, relative to the information you desire concerning the measures that have been taken by my Government regarding the two following points: First, upon the final dispositions tending to the payment to be made to the foreign bondholders; and second, about the canceling of other credits owed to German subjects.
I feel really pleased to comply with the wishes of your excellency, stating that according to instructions sent to our representative in Europe, Dr. Fernando Cruz, corresponding steps are being duly taken toward a final agreement with the bondholders and also with the claims you have reference to.
Moreover, I am able to inform you, Mr. Minister, that my Government is studying some proposals which have been submitted to it with the view of reaching the best results possible, but such business involves so complex a problem my Government is bound to have them under a serious and prolonged examination, as their high importance and the interests of the State demand; hence, the Government of Guatemala intimately hopes that the foregoing explanations, though briefly exposed, will satisfy the friendly wishes of your excellency and the Government you so deservedly represent.
I renew, etc.,
- Identical communications sent by representatives in Guatemala of France, Great Britain, Belgium, and Italy.↩
- Identical communications sent to representatives of Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Italy.↩
- Identical note sent to representative of Great Britain.↩
- Identical note sent to representatives of Belgium and Italy.↩
- Identical notes sent by ministers of France and Belgium.↩
- Identical notes sent by ministers of Germany, France, and Great Britain.↩
- Identical communications sent to French, and Italian legations.↩
- Identical communications sent by legations of Germany, France, Belgium, and Italy.↩
- Similar notes sent legations of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium, with the exception of the parts referring to the R. H. May affair and the treaty with the German Empire.↩
- Identical notes sent by legations of Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy.↩
- Similar communications sent to legations of Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Italy, no reference being made in the latter to Italian credits, as none are claimed by that country.↩