710.11/319b
The Secretary of State to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: Ambassador da Gama has been absent from the city and also ill so that I have not taken up with him the Pan American Treaty. This enforced delay has given me time to think the matter over carefully, and there are some difficulties which seem involved if a general invitation is issued to all the countries to the south of us.
For example, it might be that a signatory to the Treaty would become an ally of Germany against her European enemies (I am thinking particularly of Mexico where the oil wells at Tampico may cause trouble). In that event would we be bound under the Treaty to maintain the guarantee of territorial integrity with force of arms? Or it might be that a signatory might permit its territory to become the base of German military or naval operations (as might be the case of Ecuador in regard to the Galapagos Islands, or of Colombia in regard to her coasts). Could we observe the territorial integrity of the nation permitting this? Or could we do so if a Latin American [Page 499] country permitted its territory to become a refuge for Germans where they could conspire and carry on their propaganda in this country and other countries?
Possibly this difficulty could be cured by limiting at present the signatories to such governments as declare war against Germany, sever relations with that Government, or declare a benevolent neutrality with the assurance that they will only enter the war on our side or as our ally.
Furthermore under the guarantee of territorial integrity and political independence would the other signatories be bound to declare war against Germany? If it could be so interpreted, what I have said above has no weight. But could it be, unless our territory or waters were actually invaded by the Germans?
These are the questions which have been running through my mind and I would like your opinion upon them.
Faithfully yours,