File No. 817.51/975
The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Jefferson
Washington, July 19, 1917, 4 p.m.
Your telegram, July 11, 2 p.m. You may inform President Chamorro that the Department is disposed to consider favorably the payment to the Government of Nicaragua for back salaries of 250,000 dollars, provided the outstanding financial matters are satisfactorily adjusted and provided such payment can be made after making the payments contemplated by the plan now under consideration and after setting aside out of the Treaty money of an adequate sum applicable to payment of awards of Mixed Claims Commission and of Credit Commission.
The Department feels that the sum which should be reserved for application to awards of commissions should not be less than 1,000,000 dollars. Please cable your views in this respect.
The Department understands that in accordance with plan submitted, the following sums will be first payable from accumulated customs and Treaty fund (interest is estimated to August 1 and amounts given are approximate only): [Page 1133]
- (1)
- Interest on and one-half principal of Treasury bills, say 752,000 dollars;
- (2)
- Back Ethelburga interest and sinking fund, say 990,000 dollars;
- (3)
- Interest on and one-half principal of Emery claim, say 490,000 dollars (this assumes all owners of Emery claim will accept same treatment as Brown Brothers, namely defer payment of one-half principal).
- (4)
- The National Bank loan, principal and interest, say 107,000 dollars.
This amount totals 2,339,000 dollars.
The Department understands accumulated customs on May 1 last were 637,000 dollars and this, with balance of Treaty money, aggregates 3,387,000 dollars, and after the deduction of the payments above specified and 1,000,000 dollars for Commission awards, there is left a balance of 48,000 dollars, which sum should be substantially increased by additions to the customs fund since May 1.
If the foregoing estimates are in accord with your understanding, you may unofficially and informally use them in pointing out to General Chamorro that there will probably be a substantial fund, approximating 200,000 dollars available after making the payments contemplated by the pending plan.