File No. 312.52/686.
The Secretary of State to the Spanish Ambassador.99
Washington, December 13, 1915.
My dear Mr. Ambassador: Referring to your call at the Department on the morning of November 24th last, when you stated that. Spanish subjects were largely interested in the Banco Oriental, which was reported to have been closed by the Mexican authorities in Mexico City, and that a considerable amount of the stock of this bank is held by the American Tropical Development Company, I desire to state that the Department’s representative at Mexico City, Mr. Charles B. Parker, telegraphed under date of December 2 that all banks of issue in Mexico would be required to have by December 10 a metallic currency equal to one-half of the amount of their paper issue, and that such banks of issue as are unable to meet that requirement would lose their concessions and be forced into liquidation.
As the Department’s representative states that there is practically no American capital invested in the banks mentioned, I am of the opinion that representations through Mr. Parker in behalf of the banks would not be acceptable to the de facto Government of Mexico. Moreover, the de facto Government recently informed the Department of State that representations on behalf of foreign interests should be made by the appropriate diplomatic representatives of the countries whose citizens or subjects are concerned, and not by the representative of this Government.
I am [etc.]
- Letters in the same sense were sent on the same date to the British and French Ambassadors. See For. Rel. 1914, p. 884.↩