File No. 422.11G93/785.
Minister Hartman to the Secretary of State.
Quito, May 19, 1915—4 p.m.
Department’s instruction Number 61. Matter presented to the Minister for Foreign Affairs May 8; substance of answer follows:3
My Government considers that it is incompatible with the sovereignty of Ecuador or with its position as a free and independent nation to accept the intervention of any power in a matter where diplomatic action has no proper place. This excuses me from going into details regarding the points to which your excellency refers in the note which gives ground for the present note.
The Minister contends that the Railway Company should deal with the Government of Ecuador directly and not through the diplomatic channel except in cases where there is a refusal or denial of justice. He says:
It is to be supposed that in the present case my Government has no thought of impairing obligations already established but, rather, proposes to favor them directly or indirectly. The Railway Company has not an atom more interest than the Government of Ecuador in the faithful fulfillment of the contract between them, even in the part of it which contains obligations imposed on the Government alone.