File No. 419.11D29/88.
Minister Price to the Secretary of State.
Panama, April 26, 1915.
Minister for Foreign Affairs late Saturday transmitted six-page note in the matter of Cocoa Grove affair of Fourth of July 1912. He refers to the consideration expected by Panama from. America; charges that our soldiers and marines began the trouble; that good faith in their court proceedings had been shown already when the criminal court last April held that a Panaman was subject to prosecution in the matter except for the fact of dying within a month after the trouble happened and that Panaman police acted throughout within their duty. He then offers that the [omission in transmission] Panama will continue to urge their courts to as prompt action as possible in the matter and that without waiting longer and in view of our insistence Panama will pay money indemnities. In view of the foregoing, however, he proposes that a disinterested party be selected to value the damages and requests this proposal submitted to the Secretary of State of the United States:
That one of the diplomatic agents of one of the friendly nations accredited in Panama, chosen freely by the Government of your excellency, shall be constituted and shall decide the amount of the indemnity which Panama should pay for each one of the murdered citizens and for each one of those who suffered wounds in the riot of July 4, 1912. If the Government of your excellency accepts the formula of settlement, which is equitable, it could he put in writing and the respective arbitral agreement signed binding the parties to respect and fulfill the decision which may be rendered.
Note and its translation will be forwarded by mail Wednesday.