711.1928/287b
The Assistant Secretary of State (Welles) to the Panamanian Minister (Alfaro)
My Dear Mr. Minister: I understand that when leaving the Department yesterday, you requested a repetition of some of the remarks I had made at the opening of our conversation yesterday. I am very glad to repeat these statements in this personal letter to you.
I stated that I was glad to be able to say that this Government was now in a position to offer to the Government of Panama a basis for agreement on all of the questions which have given rise to misunderstanding during the past years which I believed would be agreeable to your Government; that this basis entailed an arrangement which would give to Panama all that to which in equity Panama was justly entitled and reserve to the United States all those rights believed indispensable in relation to the defense, maintenance, construction, operation, and sanitation, of the Panama Canal. I likewise added that I was sure you would understand that the draft I handed you16 was not transmitted as a bargaining proposal, but as a suggested agreement based, after much study and consideration, upon the foundation above described. Finally, I said that in the judgment of this Government, all of our proposals and all of the series of agreements suggested should be regarded as an entity to stand or fall together and not as separate and unrelated instruments some of which might be accepted and others rejected.
I trust that this letter conveys the information you desired. If not, please let me know and I shall, of course, be happy to repeat any further remarks I may have made during the course of our most agreeable conference.
With the assurances [etc.]
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