File No. 417.00/95.
The American Chargé d’Affaires to the Secretary of State.
In regard to the settlement of European claims other than British, and referring to your telegram of November 10, the Nicaraguan [Page 645] Government seems disposed on its own initiative to consider sending a circular note to the interested powers, making clear that they must first exhaust the remedies afforded by the Nicaraguan courts, including the mixed claims commission. The President, however, hesitates to take this initiative until assured of the support of the United States Government, for he recalls how on past occasions Nicaragua has taken this position only to be brought to humiliating terms by the presence of foreign vessels.
The President had, before receipt of your November 10, agreed to a compromise upon all British claims in toto; and in order to avoid giving them precedence over American claims his Government would submit the compromise to the mixed commission.