File No. 817.00/2033.
Interview between the Acting Secretary of State and the Minister of Salvador.
Washington, September 26, 1912.
The Minister of Salvador called this morning to present the attached communication from President Araujo. I react it in Spanish, but explained to the Minister that I should wish to have it translated and carefully considered whereupon I should ask him to be good enough to come to the Department again to discuss the matter before taking further action.
The Minister twice intimated that he should think it would be all right to make the reply through our Legation in San Salvador, but I spoke in a friendly way of my preference for first discussing the matter with him. The Minister seemed, I thought, somewhat embarrassed at the news of Mena’s surrender and intimated that of course the situation seemed to have changed a good deal. Mr. Mejía asked me if I knew what was to be done to the Liberals at León. I said that I was entirely without information on the subject.
I said that owing to our long-standing friendly relations I was always loath to have to mention any disagreeable subject, but that I thought I ought to say that even within the last forty-eight hours we had had reiterated reports that there were certain phenomena occurring in Nicaragua which the people there were utterly unable [Page 1049] to explain on any other hypothesis than the sending of aid to the rebels from across the Salvadorean frontier whether in the form of money, arms, or men.
The Minister then spoke with a little more energy saying that, as I knew, the Gulf of Fonseca was between Salvador and Nicaragua, Honduran territory lying between, and then without illustrating more on this topic he passed on to speak of the frequent instructions he received in favor of putting forward Calderón, etc.