714.1515/614: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul at Puerto Cortes (Fox)
3. For Minister Davis. The Department understands from your telegrams that the Honduran Government is willing to permit the provisional line to run along the crest of the Merendon Ridge from La Brea to the source of the Chachahualia River, and thence down that river to its junction with the Motagua, and along the Motagua to the sea, and would also, through not pressing its claim to territory on the Guatemalan side of this line, be prepared to accept this as a permanent boundary. Thus it would appear that Honduras is prepared to yield its claim to some five-sixths of the territory actually in dispute between the Motagua River and the Merendon Ridge, whereas the Guatemalan Government is insisting upon full compliance with its original demand that the line extend along the Merendon Ridge from La Brea to a point between Omoa and the mouth of the Motagua river. If the Department’s understanding is correct it would seem as though if some compromise is made by Guatemala to meet the compromise already offered by Honduras, it should be possible, if a real desire to settle this controversy exists between these two countries, to bring the two delegations into accord. In any event the Department believes that the Commission should not fail to agree upon a final definition of the territory actually in [Page 735] dispute in which the status quo is to be maintained, and upon regulations for maintaining that status quo.
The Department would be reluctant to see the labors of the present Commission result in no more than a mere suggestion that the two governments nominate plenipotentiaries to meet in Washington or other neutral place to “consider proposals for arbitration or mutual agreement.” The Department fears that this would simply result in going over the old ground covered by the negotiations of 1918 and subsequent years which led to no satisfactory result. Now that the Commission is in session at Cuyamel there would seem to be no good reason for postponing further discussion. If both countries are prepared to submit the question for final arbitration by the International Central American Tribunal, or any other arbitral board, it would seem that the Commission now in session might well be empowered by the Governments concerned to draw up the necessary agreement, and the Department will gladly instruct the Legations at Guatemala City and Tegucigalpa to make representations to the governments to which they are accredited along these lines. In brief, the Department fears that the adjournment of the present Commission without any definite accomplishment will not pave the way towards more satisfactory negotiations at another time or place, and feels very strongly that since both Honduras and Guatemala have sent representatives to Cuyamel, and the United States has at considerable sacrifice and inconvenience appointed a chairman of this commission and an assistant engineer, the present is the best time to work out and put into effect some constructive agreement.