Office of the Historian

File No. 819.77/160.

The American Minister to the Secretary of State.

No. 360.]
American Legation,
Panama, March 17, 1913.

Sirs I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of February 25th, directing me to express the appreciation of the Government of the United States to the Minister for Foreign Affairs when Mr. Basil Burns Duncan’s railway contract was withdrawn from the further consideration of the National Assembly, and to inform you that having on the following day been assured of this by Señor Lefevre, Minister for Foreign Affairs, I expressed this appreciation to him, handing him a memorandum to this effect.

Today I have received from Señor Lefevre a note informing me formally of the withdrawal of this contract “in view of the contents of my communication of February 14th last.” I enclose a copy1 of my communication mentioned which is a paraphrase of the Department’s telegram of February 13.

Mr. Duncan has lately called upon me several times and I understand that he will not make any attempt to modify his contract in accordance with the Department’s views for the present at least owing to the approaching end of the session of the Assembly. This session has now again been prolonged until the 22nd instant.

I have [etc.]

H. Percival Dodge.
[Inclosure—Translation.]

The Minister for Foreign Affairs to the American Minister.

Foreign Office,
Panama, March 17, 1913.

Mr. Minister: I have the honor to inform your excellency that my Government, taking into consideration the contents of your esteemed communication of the 14th of the last month, has decided to withdraw from the National Assembly the proposed Contract No. 70, made with Mr. Basil Burns Duncan for the construction of a railway on the Atlantic Coast.

I avail [etc.].

E. T. Lefevre.
  1. Not printed.↩