File No. 819.77/143.
The Secretary of State to the American Minister.
Panama, January 27, 1913.
Sir: The Department has received your No. 287 of the 11th instant, regarding your recent conversation with Mr. Basil Barnes [Burns] Duncan, the holder of a contract for building a railroad in Panama beginning at the west side of the Chagres River near its mouth. A copy of your despatch has been forwarded to the Secretary of War for his confidential information.
In this connection I enclose a copy of the War Department’s letter of January 22, stating that it had forwarded the correspondence regarding the matter to the Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission with a view to his designating a commission to pass upon the technical merits of the project.
I am [etc.]