422.11G93/1111
The Minister in Ecuador (Hartman) to the Secretary of
State
[Extract]
Quito, April 1,
1920.
[Received May 3.]
No. 525
Sir:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In my telegram No. 21, of March 30, 5 p.m.,24 I gave full account of an
interview with the Minister for Foreign Affairs held on the previous
afternoon, and mentioned a memorandum which I had presented as the
basis of the interview. I enclose herewith a copy of that memorandum
(Enclosure 1). In the same telegram I reported at considerable
length the substance of the interview, but I am enclosing herewith a
copy of a memorandum of the interview which I prepared upon my
return to the Legation, which gives the interview more in detail
(Enclosure 2.)
In my telegram No. 22, of March 30, 6 p.m.,24 I sent a copy of a
telegram from Consul General dated March 29, 4 p.m., giving
information as to Government methods of deposits, the substance of
which telegram follows:
The Collector receives all money, and at four o’clock each afternoon
delivers it to the Provincial Treasurer. The latter makes deposits
in bank before 5 o’clock, after dividing the money in accordance
with the decree. A remittance on bonds will probably be forwarded to
London each month.
In my telegram No. 24, of April 1, 12 noon,24 I informed the Department
that the Consul General reports total daily deposits, including
March 31st, to be 42,856.52 sucres.
Eliminating Sundays there were 22 days upon which deposits were made.
This makes an average of 1948 sucres deposited daily. But Sundays
should not be eliminated. Paragraph 11 of Article 1 of modifications
to said contract by Congress reads as follows: “In the same Article
XVII, insert, ‘there shall be deposited daily one three hundred and
sixty fifth part, including holidays.’”
It is clearly contemplated by the contract of September 30, 1918 [1908], that the deposits should be made every
day, and as amended by Congress it states, “In the event of there
being no
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deposit of the
customs receipts on any day, owing to the said bank or banks being
closed, or should the amount deposited on any day be insufficient to
cover the said one three hundred and sixty-fifth part of the annual
service, the deficiency shall at once be made good from the receipts
of the day or days following.”
In my telegram No. 25, of April 1, 2 p.m.,25 I reported that the Under
Secretary for Foreign Affairs had informed me that orders had been
issued by the Minister of Hacienda to the officials and banks in
Guayaquil instructing them to furnish all information desired
regarding daily deposits to the Consul General or myself, and that I
had notified the Consul General immediately and had received his
report as to amounts deposited, which I had telegraphed to
Department immediately in my No. 24, of April 1, 12 noon.25
I will keep the Department fully informed of any further
developments.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure 1]
The American Minister (Hartman) to the Ecuadoran Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Aguirre
Aparicio)
The American Minister respectfully salutes His Excellency the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, and has the honor to present, for
the consideration of His Excellency, the following:
This Legation is in receipt of a cable from the Department of
State at Washington stating that it has been advised by the
American Consul General at Guayaquil that officials of the
Government of Ecuador in Guayaquil refuse to furnish him
information regarding the daily deposits being made for the
service of the bonds of the Guayaquil and Quito Railway. The
Department has instructed the Legation to request of Your
Excellency an explanation of such refusal.
While the Legation has not received any official information as
to the amounts already deposited, it has received unofficial
figures, which, if correct, show clearly that the daily
deposits, unless very materially increased, will not nearly
equal the sum necessary to pay the interest on said bonds as
provided for in the agreement of 1908. My Government, therefore,
instructs me to inquire of Your Excellency the reason why these
deposits are not being made in sufficient amounts to pay said
interest.
The Department of State has directed me to visit Guayaquil and
ascertain what the Government methods of making deposits are,
and what amounts are being deposited daily, but, in view of the
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refusal of the
officials in Guayaquil to furnish this information to the
American Consul General, I have felt that my visit might be
without results, unless instructions were given by Your
Excellency’s Government to the Government officials and the
banks in Guayaquil to furnish me with said information. I
therefore respectfully ask Your Excellency to cause to be issued
the necessary and proper orders to said officials and banks in
Guayaquil to furnish me such information as may be requested
regarding the methods of making daily deposits and the amounts
of such deposits.
I would appreciate an early compliance with this request, as the
Department of State desires to receive this information as soon
as possible, and also to be advised of the reasons for the
failure of the officials in Guayaquil to furnish said
information to the Consul General, and the reasons for the daily
deposits being inadequate to pay the interest on said bonds.
The American Minister respectfully tenders to His Excellency the
Minister for Foreign Affairs the renewed assurances of his
highest consideration.
[Enclosure 2]
Memorandum by the American Minister
(Hartman) of an
Interview with the Ecuadoran Minister for Foreign
Affairs (Aguirre Aparicio) at the Foreign Office, March 29,
1920
I opened the conversation by saying that I had received
cable-graphic instructions from the Department of State
directing me to make certain requests of the Minister, and that
in the interest of accuracy, I had reduced the matter to writing
in the form of a memorandum, which Mr. Valencia26 would translate and read in Spanish. This
was done. The Minister listened attentively, and, when the
reading was completed, he immediately made the remark that the
requests were very depressing.
He stated that the refusal of the officials at Guayaquil to
furnish the Consul General with the information was doubtless
due to the fact that they had not been authorized to furnish it
by their superior officers, and that if they had done so they
would have violated their duty. I then asked him whether he
would be willing to have the necessary orders issued so that the
information would be furnished. He hesitated for a time, and
said that the customary way to obtain such data was through the
Foreign Office, but that he would speak to the Minister for
Hacienda and see what he would do. I then called his attention
to the paragraph in the memorandum regarding my contemplated
trip to Guayaquil to obtain the desired information,
[Page 201]
and said that in view
of the refusal of the officials at Guayaquil to give the data to
the Consul General, I feared that my visit would be without
results, unless the necessary orders were given to those
officials to furnish me the information desired, and I then
asked him again whether he would be willing to arrange to have
the necessary orders issued to enable me or the Consul General
to obtain the data.
He again answered that he would speak to the Minister of
Hacienda, and added that the Minister of Hacienda would
certainly consult with the President before deciding. He also
said the information could be obtained in Quito as well as in
Guayaquil.
He then brought up the subject of our interview on last Friday,
wherein I had requested the same information orally, and said
that he had spoken to the Minister of Hacienda, and that he had
said he would have full returns from all the provinces at the
end of this month, and would then furnish the information
regarding the amount of daily deposits.
Regarding the request for the reason why the deposits are not
being made in sufficient amounts to pay said interest, he said
that it is because the imports into Ecuador are far below what
they were before the war, and far below the estimate of Congress
in the preparation of the budget.
He then stated that the Minister of Hacienda was of the opinion
that the estimates in the budget would not be realized, and that
the present plan of daily deposits would not produce enough
revenues to meet the interest, and that he had told the Congress
that there would be a deficit of probably 3,000,000 sucres.
He also said that a plan was to be presented to the next
Congress, designed to increase the revenues to an amount
sufficient to meet the foreign debt and necessities of
government.
He also said that, in view of the insistence of the Government of
the United States for the resumption of deposits, Ecuador had
acceded thereto and adopted the present plan of daily deposits,
and abandoned their former policy of making remittances whenever
able, and that he believed the former policy, if it had been
continued, would have resulted in larger amounts being remitted
than the present practice of daily deposits will make
possible.
I then suggested that I would greatly appreciate an answer
tomorrow (Tuesday), in writing to my memorandum of requests, but
he replied that because of the proposed trip of the President
and party, including himself, to the Colombian border on
Wednesday, March 31, he would not be able to answer then, as his
time would be fully occupied in other official work which must
be done before his departure, but that the Minister of Hacienda
would furnish the information at the end of this month.
