File No. No. 763.72112C26/84
The Peruvian Minister ( De Freyre) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 6.]
Sir: In reply to your note of the 3d instant referring to the conditions under which the licenses requested by my Government to permit the Casa Grande Sugar Plant to continue operating will be granted, and in order to dispel any misunderstanding, I have the honor to inform you that my Government fully comprehends that the agreement under which these licenses are granted is provisional, pending the declaration of the owners of the Casa Grande Estate authorizing the Peruvian administrator to dispose of their shares, in part or wholly, or of the property itself.
My Government has already notified the Casa Grande Sugar Plant that the administration thereof, established by the Peruvian Government, is temporary, pending the authorization of the actual owners of the Estate, to be given promptly to the Peruvian administrator, that a sale be made by the said administrator of their shares or of the property itself. Moreover, the agreement between my Government and the Casa Grande Sugar Plant, referred to in my note of the 20th ultimo, declares such an agreement to be provisional, stipulating in its last clause that the agreement will be concluded when the Peruvian Government so resolves, after giving a 15-days’ previous notice.
In order, however, that the administrator appointed by the Peruvian Government may take over the actual management and control of the business, as required in your note of the 6th ultimo, he must be able to make a sale of the products of the Plant and to purchase the articles necessary for the maintenance thereof; and consequently he should not be subject to the restrictions imposed upon him at present. Nor would it be acceptable, nor in conformity with the friendly purposes of the United States Government, as expressed in your aforementioned note of May 6, 1918, that the administration [Page 408] of the Casa Grande Sugar Plant, established by the Peruvian Government, be practically included in the United States trading with the enemy list. With a license to discount drafts received in payment of sugar and with no facilities to transport or dispose of the sugar, the Peruvian administrator would be placed in a sorry plight, which evidently was not intended by the United States Government. Neither could it be the purpose of the United States Government to recognize an administrator who, being denied the necessary means to maintain and operate the Plant, would be unable to discharge his duties.
I, therefore, have the honor to renew the request contained in my note of May 20, 1918, that due notice be given the proper officials of the United States Government that the sale and purchase of articles and products and the discount of drafts, effected by the general administrator appointed by my Government, be not subject to the restrictions existing against the maintenance of trade relations between American individuals or corporations, and enemy individuals or corporations.
My Government thoroughly appreciates the spirit in which the Government of the United States has acceded to its request in the matter, and trusts that in order to make these concessions fully effective, all the necessary facilities will be granted the Peruvian administrator of the Plant to operate it, pending the authorization of the owners thereof, to dispose through the said administrator, of their shares in the property or of the property itself.
Accept [etc.]