File No. 810.77/82.
The American Chargé d’Affaires to the Secretary of State.
Panama, October 9, 1911.
Sir: Referring to the Department’s instructions Nos. 89 and 92, of September 20 and 22, respectively, I have the honor to report that on October 7 I made a formal call by appointment upon the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Federico Boyd, and after addressing to him the preliminary remarks indicated in instruction No. 92, read to him instruction No. 89.
While I read this instruction, the Secretary commented at length upon it and I confined my replies to the facts in the instruction. Mr. Boyd disagreed on practically one point only, that part of the instruction which summarized the negotiations and correspondence [Page 1187] to date, concerning the Dziuk railway concession. He stated that the rivers of the Darien region were not navigable—I presume canoes were not to be considered—and that that region could never be developed without building some railroads there.
Mr. Boyd said that he had for some time lost confidence in Mr. Dziuk and that he desired me to inform the Department that he agreed with their views that the pressure being brought by Mr. Dziuk to obtain extensions of his original concession was an indication of lack of good faith as to his intention in obtaining the original concession.
The Nichols-Scharr correspondence, quoted in the instruction I was reading, Mr. Boyd said he had never heard of before, and he expressed great indignation at the conduct of Mr. Dziuk and his associates in proposing to sell to the United States lands about Piñas Bay. The Panaman Government, or at least the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, was entirely unaware of any such proposal being made in the United States and he stated that in fact such sale or transfer of lands could not be legally made by Mr. Dziuk and his associates without the authority and consent of the Panaman Government.
The Secretary further stated that this matter completely destroyed his already wavering confidence in Mr. Dziuk and he would have nothing further to do with him other than the original concession might render necessary.
The latter part of instruction No. 89 wherein are expressed the views of the American Government upon the relations existing and which should exist between the Government of the United States and the Government of Panama, seemed to cause Mr. Boyd considerable concern.
At the end of the interview, Mr. Boyd stated that he wished me to express to the American Government his sympathy with the views therein expressed as to the identity of American and Panaman interests and that he realized that in its ultimate analysis, the protection of the canal and the independence of the Republic of Panama were identical.
Mr. Boyd expressing a desire to have a copy of the instruction, I left him the copy which the Department had enclosed to me and as I left the room, remarked that doubtless the communication would be of interest to the President and possibly also to the Minister of Fomento, as mention had been made of the latter in the document.
I have [etc.]