File No. 817.51/917
The Chargé d’Affaires of Nicaragua to the Secretary of State
Washington, March 24, 1917.
Mr. Secretary of State: I have the honor to inform your excellency that I have received from the President of Nicaragua a cable directing me to urge, in my representations to the Department of State, that the reference to a Financial Adviser to be appointed by the Government of Nicaragua be eliminated from the pending contract with the Ethelburga. I had occasion last week to lay before the Department of State a full statement of the reasons which now militate against the expediency and suitability of making that appointment under existing circumstances and for the same reason President Chamorro believes it would be much more advisable to strike out from the Ethelburga contract the reference to the appointment. In return, President Chamorro instructs me to say to your excellency that he agrees to a mention being made in that contract of the Commission on the Revision of the Debts, dealt with in its Article 11, trusting that the said commission would suffice to meet the guaranties sought in the negotiation.
I therefore take the liberty of reiterating to you the Nicaraguan Government’s request that the Department once more extend to us its generous assistance toward finding a way of arranging matters so that the Ethelburga contract maybe perfected at the earliest possible date, by reason of the urgent need in which Nicaragua stands for funds with which to relieve the economic situation that is now so trying, without making therein any reference to the Financial Adviser.
Thanking your excellency in advance for such action as you may be able to take in the sense above indicated, I take pleasure [etc.]