File No. 422.11G93/998
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ecuadoran Minister ( Elizalde)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of December 12, stating that your Government has informed you that it adheres to its promise to pay the sum of $859,740, in payment of the coupons of the Guayaquil & Quito Railway Co., out of the proceeds of the sale of 14,000 tons of cocoa, which the War Trade Board will now permit to be exported to the United States from Ecuador. Your note continues that the difficulty your Government now has to contend with is the procuring of steamers on which to ship the cocoa.
The Department has received with much pleasure your renewed assurance that the sum of $859,740 will be paid on the railway bonds, and it is glad to inform you that it has received information to the effect that of the 14,000 tons of cocoa mentioned, 4,000 tons have already been shipped to New York, and 80 per cent of the value paid. One thousand bags, or approximately 875 tons, have also been shipped to London by the Leland Line, and 2,500 tons have been purchased and paid for by Frederic Huth & Co. of London. It will, therefore, be seen that of the total of 14,000 tons, 10,875 tons have already been sold or shipment arranged for, leaving only a balance of 3,125 tons on hand, the shipment of which can probably be arranged at an early date.
Inasmuch as the Department has reason to believe in the accuracy of the above information, it hopes to be informed by you in the near future that the larger part of the above-mentioned sum of $859,740 has been used to pay the coupons of the railway bonds.
Accept [etc.]