File No. 422.11G93/815.

The Secretary of State to Minister Hartman.

No. 83.]

Sir: Referring to the Department’s instruction No. 61 of April 2, 1915, you are hereby instructed to present to the Government of Ecuador the protest of the Guayaquil & Quito Railway Company against the executive decree of the President of Ecuador, dated July 13, 1915, relative to the issuance of three hundred thousand sucres of Treasury warrants, to be received in payment of export duties on cacao, inasmuch as the decree in question constitutes a further impairment of the customs receipts of Ecuador and diverts a part thereof from the service of the railway bonds, which are entitled to a first charge on all customs receipts.

The Department will be glad to have you report the result of your action in this case and also furnish copies of your former protest, and of the reply made thereto, by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, of which the substance was given in your telegram of May 19, 4 p.m.

I am, [etc.]

Robert Lansing.