763.72119/3383
The Acting Secretary of State to the Permian Minister ( Tudela )
The Acting Secretary of State presents his compliments to the Minister of Peru and has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of his communication of January sixth,6 in which he inquired whether any [Page 232] information is available in regard to the possible participation in the Peace Conference of countries such as Peru, who severed diplomatic relations with Germany during the war, and whether in the opinion of the Department of State it would be advisable for the Government of Peru to appoint at once one or more delegates to the Peace Conference who would be ready at any moment to enter into their duties were they called upon to do so.
In answer to the Minister of Peru’s communication, the Acting Secretary of State takes pleasure in giving him the following information:
The American Commission in Paris regards with sympathy the desire of the South and Central American States which declared war on or broke relations with Germany to be represented at the Peace Conference; and while no assurance can be given in advance of the preliminary meeting of the delegates of the Great Powers, the American Commission will, at the appropriate moment, extend its good offices in behalf of its Latin American neighbors falling within the foregoing categories.
It would appear, therefore, to be a wise step for the Government of Peru to send one or more delegates to Paris to be on the spot in case they are to be accorded representation at the Conference.
- Not printed.↩