File No. 437.00/10.
[Untitled]
Habana, Cuba, June 16, 1911.
Sir: Referring to my dispatch No. 916,1 of the 9th instant, I have the honor to confirm the telegram sent you this morning in regard to the so-called “insurrectionary claims” arising prior to 1898. As was of course anticipated, the European representatives in Washington have supplied their colleagues here with information as to the nature of the aide memoire on this subject which was given them by the Department, and at least one of the representatives in Habana (the German minister) has suggested “arbitration.” Yesterday Sr. Sanguily, the Cuban secretary of state, told me that he had discussed the matter with President Gómez, and that the President had told him to find out through me if President Taft would consent to act as arbitrator. The Secretary told me in strict confidence that Cuba would not be inclined to submit this matter to The Hague Court, owing to the natural bias which its members would have in favor of European countries, and the different manner in which questions of the kind are regarded in Europe and in America (in the continental sense), as was shown in the consideration of the “Drago Doctrine “at the Second Hague Conference.
I have, etc.,
- Not printed.↩