File No. 819.77/93.
The American Minister to the Secretary of State .
Panama , December 6, 1911 .
Sir: Referring to my despatch No. 14 of the 28th ultimo, I have the honor to inform you that Señor Nicanor A. de Obarrio, who is a member of the Panaman Assembly and has apparently been representing Mr. L. E. Myers here, called upon me to-day and showed me a letter from Mr. Myers of which he allowed me to retain a copy (which is inclosed1) for my information. Señor de Obarrio stated [Page 1195] that he had brought this letter to the attention of President Arosemena and Dr. C. C. Arosemena, Minister of Public Works, and informed me that he did not believe that President Arosemena desired to construct the Panama-David Railway at all. In an apparently rather dissatisfied tone he then purported to give me the results of his conversation with the President and Dr. Arosemena. Señor de Obarrio’s statements as to this were not altogether clear to me, but I gathered that at first he had been told that the Government would be prepared to negotiate with Mr. Myers for the final survey of the line, and later that the Government would not consider any proposition which did not have the “OK “of the American Government. Referring to Mr. Myers’ letter he stated that the Mr. Lewis mentioned on page 3 was Señor Samuel Lewis, and that he had not left Panama.
He further stated that Mr. Dziuk was endeavoring to form an American syndicate with German capital to present a proposition to the Panaman Government for constructing the Panamá-David Railway and further for constructing a railway connecting with this one and running from Panama City to the headwaters of the Chucunaque River, there joining the railway to be constructed under Mr. Dziuk’s Darien concession. Mr. Myers’ letter gives his impression of Mr. Dziuk’s proposed syndicate.
Señor de Obarrio then stated that he desired information upon something which he had heard lately “in the street,” namely, that the Department had recently sent an instruction to the Legation for communication to the Panaman Government which stated that the American Government desired that the Panamá-David Railway should not be constructed. I replied that I was extremely glad that he had brought this rumor to my attention, which was entirely without foundation. It was true, I stated, that the Department had lately sent an instruction for communication to the Panaman Government and that this instruction set forth clearly the attitude of the American Government as to the construction of railways generally in Panama. I then gave Mr. de Obarrio in a few words the substance of this instruction, adding that I should be glad to have it become generally known in Panama, in order to make clear the attitude of my Government and thus prevent false reports from circulating in the future.
Subsequently, in a conversation with President Arosemena, he mentioned Mr. Myers’ letter to Señor de Obarrio, stating that he was about to send me a copy of it. Señor de Obarrio had been informed that Mr. Myers’ proposal would be taken under consideration. The President added that, as the matter was such a serious one, no answer could be made until after serious thought.
As I was leaving, the President handed to me a pamphlet entitled “Official Messages of the President. His Vetoes of the Railroad Measures passed at the session of the National Assembly held September 25 to October 9, 1911. Also an Address to the Nation.”
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩