822.73/4
The Chargé in Ecuador ( Deane ) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 26.]
Sir: With reference to the Department’s telegraphic instruction No. 1, of February 6, 5 P.M.,49 and in confirmation of my telegram No. 13, March 25, 3 P.M.,50 I have the honor to transmit herewith copy and translation of the reply of the Government of Ecuador, dated March 22, 1922,50 to the petition of the All America Cables Incorporated that the Government of Ecuador acquiesce in the renunciation, waiver, relinquishment and surrender by that company in favor of British or American companies of any preferential or exclusive rights of entry, connection or operation of submarine cables then enjoyed or claimed by it in Ecuador.
It will be noted that although the proposition was received with favor by the Government, the President did not believe that the [Page 528] Government of Ecuador could legally give such acquiescence without the approval of Congress, which does not convene until next August, and therefore directed that the matter be submitted to that body. Upon a second petition by the Manager of the All America Cables, Incorporated, however, the Government stated that it would place no obstacles in the way of the laying of submarine cables in Ecuador by British or American companies until such time as Congress reached a final decision in the matter.51
While the delay in the giving of complete acquiescence by the Ecuadorean Government may cause considerable inconvenience, it is quite possible that the submission of the matter to Congress may in the end prove of advantage to the All America Cables, inasmuch as no important opposition is expected, and inasmuch as it will be the first recognition by Congress of the various contracts between the Government of Ecuador and the Cable Company.
I have [etc.]