File No. 817.00/1698.
[Telegram—Paraphrase.]
In my 113, September 5, I spoke of the plan of the election of Mena by the assembly for the four-year constitutional term to succeed Diaz. The tacit consent of the Department to this plan would result in the immediate approval by Assembly of the loan and mixed; commission matters. Mena has withheld his consent to his election before consideration of these matters by Assembly. President Diaz requests me to submit this situation to the Department and is heartily in favor of the plan, remarking that free elections are hopelessly impracticable for several years in Nicaragua. He added that if the Department disapproved he would resign and deposit the executive power in Mena. But Mena declares he will not accept the power in that way and would resign, which would doubtless split the Conservatives, cause an anti-American uprising, and put an end to the Department’s present program.