memorandum.
The honorable Richard Olney, Secretary of State, and Don Domingo Gana, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Chile, having met in the Department of State, the latter stated that certain terms had been agreed upon for the final settlement of the claim which the North and South American Construction Company filed against the Government of Chile before the United States and Chilean Claims Commission which sat in Washington, which claim grew out of the contract made on the 17th of October, 1888, for the construction of certain railroads in the Republic of Chile; that pursuant to said informal agreement on file in the State Department the said company relinquishes every and all right or rights it has or may have against the Government of Chile growing out of the said contract of October 17, 1888, and grants and transfers to the said Government of Chile rights and actions in the form established by Articles II, III, and IV of said agreement; that the relinquishment by the company of the rights it has or may have against the Government of Chile, as well as the grant and transfer to the latter of the rights and actions mentioned in the said Articles II, III, and IV, are contingent upon the condition that the Government of Chile shall deposit in the hands of the Secretary of State the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) and officially declare cancelled the guarantee of one million pesos (1,000,000) which the Banco Nacional de Chile gave to the Government of Chile to secure the performance on the part of the company of the obligation stipulated in the contract of October 17, 1888; that in consideration of the foregoing he places in the hands of the honorable Secretary of State a check drawn on Messrs. August Belmont & Co., of New York, for the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($150,000), and officially declares in the name of the Government of Chile that the said guarantee of one million pesos (1,000,000) given by the Banco Nacional de Chile to secure the performance of the obligations the said company assumed pursuant to the said contract of October 17, 1888, for the construction of certain railroads is cancelled and released; that he delivers the said check and [Page 86] makes the foregoing declaration with the positive understanding that he shall receive through the honorable Secretary of State a formal and legal written instrument from the company in accordance with the terms of the informal instrument on file in the State Department, and that the Government of the United States will not hereafter take cognizance of any claims growing out of the transactions of which this payment is to be taken as a final adjustment.
The honorable Secretary of State announces his assent to the foregoing statement, receives the check for the sum named, and delivers to the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Chile the formal deed setting forth the relinquishment of rights by the company to the Government of Chile pursuant to the terms of said informal agreement.
- Richard Olney.
- Domingo Gana.