611.2231/11
The Minister in Ecuador (Hartman) to
the Secretary of State
Quito, December 1,
1921.
[Received December 29.]
No. 761
Sir: Referring to my despatch No. 752, of
November 17, 1921, respecting the claim of Ecuadorian debtors that they
have the right to compel acceptance by their creditors in the United
States of sucres at the official rate of 2.60 in payment of dollar
drafts, even though the market rate of exchange is much greater, and
even though the contract creating the indebtedness was made before the
passage of the law authorizing the fixing of an official rate of
exchange, I have the honor to make the following additional report:
On yesterday afternoon I received note No. 50, of November 30th. from the
Minister for Foreign Affairs (copies and translation enclosed) in answer
to my note No. 445, of November 16, 1921.
In this connection, I have to advise the Department that, under date
November 24, 1921, a new decree fixing the official rate of exchange at
3.60 was signed by the President. Triplicate copies of this decree, with
translation, are herewith enclosed.3
I have [etc.]
[Page 876]
[Enclosure—Translation]
The Ecuadoran Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Ponce)
to the American Minister (Hartman)
Quito, November 30,
1921.
No. 50
Mr. Minister: I have before me the esteemed
note of Your Excellency, No. 445, of the 16th instant, received the
17th.
In the conversation which I had with Your Excellency on the 14th, I
stated to Your Excellency: (a) That the
Government of Ecuador, by virtue of a Law, was obligated to fix the
rate of exchange: (b) that, in fulfilment of
this duty, the Government had fixed it, in an Executive Decree: (c) that, as a general rule, payments in
Ecuador must conform to this Decree; but that it pertains to the
Judicial Power to judge and decide the controversies which arise in
particular cases, taking into consideration the special
circumstances of each case, such as the conditions of the contract
as regards the place of payment, the currency in which the latter is
to be made, etc., and taking into consideration the rules of Private
International Law for the determination of the law which in each
case should be applied, when the controversy is relative to
contracts celebrated in one country for execution in another; and
(d) that the rate of exchange fixed in
the Executive Decree is applicable, in my opinion, to payments
posterior to its date, even when they result from debts contracted
previously. I added that the President of the Republic was occupied
in studying all the data necessary to fix, in a new Decree, the
maximum rate of exchange, in a manner corresponding to the present
circumstances of our international commerce.
I now take pleasure in communicating to Your Excellency that on the
24th of this month the Executive Decree was issued, and was
promulgated on the following day in No. 360 of the Registro Oficial, copy of which I am transmitting to Your
Excellency.5
I renew [etc.]
