File No. 9160/58.

Memorandum to the Guatemalan legation.

The Department of State has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the memorandum dated the 6th instant, in which the minister of Guatemala gives the Government’s version of the arrest by the local authorities of Zacapa, Guatemala, of the American citizens Simon Shine and George Milliken. The minister of Guatemala requests that, in order to determine the justice in the matter, the necessary further time be given to finish the indispensable steps for the clearing up of the facts of the case, and for the admission of documents that will permit a settlement of the incident in an equitable, definite, and satisfactory manner.

In reply to the memorandum the Department of State has the honor to say that it desires that these cases shall be settled on their merits, and therefore it courts the fullest investigation of the facts. The American chargé d’affaires ad interim at Guatemala City has accordingly been instructed to advise the Guatemalan minister of foreign affairs, informally, that this Government is prepared to allow ample time for a thorough investigation.