File No. 822.124/312.
The American Minister to the Secretary of State.
Quito , October 17, 1913 .
The President yesterday informed me that a representative of the J. G. White Co. sailed from London Oct. 11 to close contract for sanitation of Guayaquil. The President says that if the Government of the United States will assist in having a receiver appointed for the Guayaquil & Quito Railway Co. he will include in the sanitation contract a provision requiring the work to be done under the supervision of Colonel Gorgas. He declares that the only cause of unfriendliness toward the United States is the conduct of the railway company. He asserts that the appointment of a receiver for the railway properties, with the assistance of the United States Government, would result in conserving earnings which are being misappropriated and also remove the feeling of unfriendliness against us. President Plaza informs me that Congress has authorized a bond issue of 66,000,000 sucres, bearing 5 per cent interest, of which 20,000,000 are for sanitation of Guayaquil. He hopes that American capital will take the sanitation bonds, which act would be much appreciated by Ecuador.