711.1928/426
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
The Minister of Panama called to say goodbye before leaving. He referred to two points that had not yet been agreed on between our two governments and which his government was pressing as a part of the pending treaty revision. One of these related to prohibitions against some five Panamanians, which kept them from entering the [Page 903] Canal Zone or United States territory without risk of being confined in prison on account of previous experiences. The Minister insisted that this was an extreme policy and had peculiarly bad effects upon the masses in the territory of Panama. The other point raised was that a provision should go in the treaty assuring to Panamanian citizens employed in the Canal Zone equality of pay and of general treatment. He said that out of more than 3,000 on the gold roll, there were only 37 citizens of Panama employed. He said that we had regulations and general standing orders about equality of pay and of treatment of Panamanian citizens and that this was the way it worked out in practice; hence the insistent demand that a suitable formula be inserted in the treaty.