800.63/1
The Acting Secretary of State to the Consul at Guatemala (Lawton)59
Sir: Referring to the Department’s Special Instruction No. 672 of May 31, 1919, relative to a report on mining laws and mineral resources, you are instructed, in connection with an investigation of this subject, to endeavor to ascertain discreetly what development in oil fields is taking place in your district, with particular reference to parties who may be prospecting for oil, the nationality [Page 167] of these people, and the financial interests which are connected with the enterprise. Any information obtainable concerning the surface indications of the presence of oil in your district is desired.
Your reply to this instruction should be embodied in a separate report and not included in your reply to the above mentioned Special Instruction.
I am [etc.]
- The same, June 20, to the consular officers at Barranquilla (No. 355) and Cartagena (No. 114), in Colombia; at Guayaquil, Ecuador (No. 266); and in Mexico to the consular officers at Acapulco (No. 33), Ensenada (No. 84), Guaymas (No. 37), Manzanillo (No. 18), Mazatlan (No. 576), and Salina Cruz (No. 91).↩