710.11/213½
The Secretary of State to Colonel E. M. House
My Dear Colonel House: I enclose to you a copy of a memorandum which was agreed upon in our conversation the other day with the President.14 I gave a copy to the Argentine Ambassador who doubted the advisability of having a fixed time set for the settlement of boundary disputes. With him I am more or less in agreement but I do not approve of his counter-draft of which a copy is enclosed.15
I finally saw the Chilean Ambassador yesterday in regard to the matter and he is agreeable to have the matter taken up directly with his Government through our Ambassador, which I believe will [Page 490] be the better way. I think I overcame his objection to the guarantee of political independence but I think there will be opposition to the submission to arbitration of disputed territory between Chile and Peru on account of the importance of the territory to Chile in its relation to the nitrate deposits. He asked me to delay two or three days before taking the matter up with his Government, in order that he could communicate with them in regard to it. I of course had no option but to agree to this.
I wrote the President the other day in regard to the Argentine Ambassador’s conversation with me and his objection to a time limit in the matter of the settlement of boundary disputes, and he is agreeable to leaving it indefinite, with the understanding that they shall be settled as soon as possible.
I hope that I can push matters more rapidly now. The difficulty has been to get in touch with the Chilean Ambassador.
Is there any prospect of your being in Washington again soon?
With warm regards [etc.]