Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President, Transmitted to Congress December 2, 1895, Part II

Mr. Hicks to Mr. Blaine.

Legation of the United States,
Lima, Peru, February 21, 1890. (Received March 25.)

No. 91.]

Sir: Referring to my dispatch No. 56, of December 20, in regard to the claim of the Hydrographic Commission, I have to say that I called upon the foreign office to-day and was told by the chief clerk that no reply had yet been received from the minister of the treasury on the subject.

The chief clerk admitted that the claim was perfectly correct, as it had been properly audited years ago, and that the only difficulty was the lack of funds. He expressed the belief, also, that when the new Congress meets the matter might be included by the President in his estimate for appropriations from Congress, and the money paid.

I will endeavor to keep the matter from being forgotten, and have some hope that the claim will be paid, unless a revolution upsets everything, a contingency not entirely improbable.

I have, etc.,

John Hicks.