File No. 711.21/332
Minister Thomson to the Secretary of State
Bogotá, February 15, 1916.
Minister for Foreign Affairs desires me to express to the President and the Secretary of State sincere gratitude of the Colombian Government for the interest they are manifesting in the approval of the treaty and to state that if it should be amended the Colombian Government will make no comment as the Colombian Congress will have to pass on it. Various recent developments here and reports of German propaganda convince me that the ratification of the treaty in some form is of the greatest importance in connection with the defense of the Panama Canal * * *.