811.113 Senate Investigation/77

The Peruvian Ambassador ( Freyre ) to the Secretary of State

Your Excellency: My Government have probed the facts connected with the statements,44 to which I had the honour to refer in a previous note,45 made by Mr. C. W. Webster before the United States Senate munitions Committee.

The following conclusions have been reached.

1.
Commander Romano46 positively declares that at no time did he discuss with Mr. Webster the supposed commission paid for the purchase of British airplanes, nor did he disclose the contract under which this transaction was executed.
2.
The British airplanes were purchased at a price lower than the one quoted for the Falcon airplanes of Curtiss Wright Company.
3.
No comparative study was, or could have been made, between the performance of the British airplanes and that of the Falcon airplanes, since the latter arrived to Peru only recently.

In view of these conclusions, squarely contradicting the statements attributed to Mr. Webster, and taking into account that no justification has been offered to substantiate these statements, my Government feel compelled to protest against the charges therein contained. At a public hearing of a Committee of the United States Senate, allegations have been made and placed on record that cast a serious slur upon the conduct and good name of Peruvian officials. The high character of the body before which these allegations were made, the fact that the allegations were placed on record, the grave charges they imply and the wide publicity given them are factors that cannot be ignored. Nor can one dismiss these charges as non-important, because they lack official recognition.

[Page 447]

In compliance, therefore, with instructions received from my Government, I have the honour herewith to enter a formal protest against the afore-mentioned allegations attributed to Mr. C. W. Webster, on the ground that they are injurious and unfounded.

I have [etc.]

M. de Freyre y S[antander]
  1. Munitions Industry, pt. 4, pp. 711–712.
  2. Ante, p. 441.
  3. Peruvian Naval Air Corps Officer.