File No. 11893.
The Cuban Minister to the Secretary of State.
Washington, February 19, 1908.
Excellency: Referring to your department’s memorandum dated January 14, 1903,1 whose second paragraph reads:
The question presented has been considered by the proper Executive Departments and the conclusion has been reached that whatever authority or rights this Government may have had formally [formerly] in the wrecks above referred to may properly be considered as having lapsed in favor of the Government of Cuba.
and pursuant to my Government’s instructions I have the honor to ask Your Excellency to inform me whether the conclusion reached by the proper Executive Departments mentioned in the above-quoted memorandum refers solely and exclusively to the wrecks of the Spanish ship Alfonso XII stranded at la Boca del Mariel and that of the battleship Maine in the port of Habana, or applies also to the wreck of the other Spanish war vessels destroyed during the war this country waged against Spain in 1898 that may be found along the coast of the island of Cuba.
I avail, etc
- Not printed.↩