File No. 819.74/15.
The Secretary of the Navy to the Secretary of State.
Washington, April 22, 1912.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter1 of April 17, 1912, enclosing copy of a despatch from our Minister at Panama City relative to the erection of radio stations in Panama.
Referring to the statement that a 5-kilowatt telefunken set has been ordered by the Panaman Government for installation on top of the National Theater in Panama City, this Department can only reiterate the opinion expressed by Mr. Clark, its radio expert on the Isthmus of Panama, that this apparatus would positively interfere with the Naval radio station at Balboa; and in view of the opinion of the Solicitor for the State Department that “it is my judgment that, as against the Government of Panama, this Government already enjoys, under the Canal Treaty of 1903, full right and authority to carry out the plans desired by the Navy Department in the erection and maintenance, as a monopoly, of wireless telegraph stations not only in the zone but on the Isthmus itself,” I have the honor to request that our Minister be instructed to use his influence against the erection of any radio stations in Panama except those of this Department.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed. The inclosed dispatch referred to is No. 71, of February 14; see ante.↩