File No. 815.77/117.
The American Minister to
the Secretary of State.
No. 117.]
American Legation,
Tegucigalpa
,
April 18, 1912
.
Sir: Acknowledging the Department’s
instruction No. 56 of the 6th ultimo, in regard to the complaint of Mr.
W. S. Valentine, I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of a note
addressed by me on the 12th instant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
in accordance therewith, and to be, Sir, [etc.]
[Inclosure.]
The American Minister
to the Minister for Foreign
Affairs.
American Legation,
Tegucigalpa
,
April 12, 1912
.
Mr. Minister: Referring to your
excellency’s note of February 7 last in regard to the complaint of
Mr. Washington S. Valentine concerning the railroad and wharf at
Puerto Cortes, I have the honor in fulfillment of instructions to
advise you that my Government will await with confidence the result
of the judicial inventory and liquidation of accounts which you
state have been ordered in connection with this Government’s seizure
of the Valentine railway properties.
I am also instructed to say that the Department of State of my
Government does not find it easy to understand the statement that
the Government of Honduras has no knowledge of any claim on the part
of Mr. Valentine connected with the railway. Your excellency’s note
above referred to acknowledges throughout; its discussion that this
Government delivered the railway to Mr. Valentine in 1908 and that
from that time until the present it has permitted him to retain
possession of and operate the same. It seems quite evident that,
totally irrespective of whether or not the formal concession or
lease granted Mr. Valentine was valid and constitutional, your
excellency’s Government could not now expect successfully to
maintain that by this governmental action the Government had not
assumed such a special relation to Mr. Valentine in connection with
his possession and operation of the railroad as would entail
reciprocal rights, duties and obligations, which would have to be
adjusted.
The Government of the United States must therefore be understood as
reserving the right to make further representations regarding this
matter in the unlooked-for event that the judicial inquiry
instituted by the authorities of Honduras should appear not to
accomplish substantial justice.
Accept [etc.]
