Minister Ide to the Secretary of State.

[Extract.]
No. 172.]

Sir: I have the honor to report as follows:

On the morning of the 11th instant an interview was had with the minister of state, wherein he was informed that the Government of the United States was greatly interested in the preservation of peace between the two republics, with both of which it was on the most friendly relations, and that the President was especially pleased with the magnanimous course which the newspaper reports stated that the Spanish Government had taken with a view to urging the cabinets of Peru and Ecuador to adopt a conciliatory attitude toward each other. The minister replied that the Spanish Government had taken no further action than to telegraph the Spanish minister at Lima, who is also accredited to Ecuador, substantially as follows:

Inform interested governments that Government hopes that the present trouble may be settled amicably.

The minister of state stated that in his telegram no mention was made of the arbitration or of the King’s considering it his duty to offer advice on the subject, but that the Spanish Government had merely expressed the hope that the difficulty might be settled peaceably. He added that he could not give expression to the views of the Spanish Government until in possession of fuller information from the Spanish minister at Lima. He remarked that no award had yet been made, nor had it been decided as to what it would be when it would be made.

I have, etc.,

Henry C. Ide.