File No. 611.226/17
The Ecuadoran Minister ( Elizalde) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: I have the honor to refer to your kind note No. 43 of November 29 last, advising me that the War Trade Board will permit the importation of 14,000 tons of cacao now stored in Ecuador and that the Department of State hopes that my Government will in consequence pay in full the coupons [cupones] of the Guayaquil & Quito Railway Co., viz., the sum of $859,740, as I had offered to you in due course.
I forwarded by cable to my Government your communication immediately on receiving it, and had not my telegram been delayed, I should have received the answer, which reached me yesterday, earlier.
My Government in that answer informs me that it adheres to its promise to pay the above-named sum out of the proceeds of the sale of the cacao as agreed, but that the difficulty it now has to contend with is to procure steamers on which to ship the cacao to England.
The importation of cacao into England being now allowed, there is advantage in shipping to that country where the demand will permit of a speedy and profitable sale of the cacao on better terms, certainly, than in New York, and my Government could in this way redeem at an earlier date its promise to pay the above-named sum.
I have been instructed to approach the British Embassy at the Capital and endeavor to have steamers sent to Guayaquil, but realizing the difficulties to be encountered, I bring the matter to your knowledge so as to find out whether your Government can help us in overcoming the obstacles that now stand in the way of our shipping the cacao and immediately fulfilling our offer.
I avail [etc.]