File No. 811.34537/42.
The American Minister to the Secretary of State.
Habana, January 14, 1911.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt this morning of your instruction No. 212, of the 7th instant, and although I am still without any acknowledgment whatever of my dispatch No. 426, of October 31, I felt at liberty to consider that this last instruction confirmed those of August 18 (No. 114), in regard to the general subject of the enlargement of the naval station at Guantánamo; and I have accordingly just had a conversation with Sr. Sanguily, the Cuban secretary of state, in regard to it. I told Sr. Sanguily that the United States was prepared to consider the renunciation of the Bahía Honda lease in exchange for the enlargement of the station at Guantánamo, and the secretary replied that he was ready to enter upon negotiations on that basis and requested me to let him know exactly what enlargement we desired. He spoke of certain land transactions which had recently taken place (dispatch No. 461)1 and intimated that it might be difficult for Cuba to find the money necessary to expropriate what we want. He asked if the United States could in any way—by loan or advance or purchase outright—facilitate this matter.
[Page 116]The secretary also spoke of the jurisdiction over the waters of Guantánamo Harbor, in regard to which he thought certain changes desirable, so that friction might be avoided when Cuban vessels passed through American waters in entering the port. In view of the proposed fortification of the heights back of Guantánamo, does our Navy Department think it necessary that the “American water “should extend from shore to shore at the mouth of the harbor, or would it release the western part of the entrance to the port? * * * The moment appears to me to be a propitious one for us to obtain the desired enlargement of the Guantánamo station, and I think the Cuban Government is prepared to act as expeditiously as we could wish. With your instructions it would be well to send me a map (chart) showing the present limits of the station and exactly what enlargement we want.
While adding that I have read the draft of this dispatch to Sr. Patterson, chief of “protocol” of the state department, who was present during my interview with Sr. Sanguily this morning, and who has assured me that I properly understood the points mentioned by the secretary,
I have [etc.],
- Not printed.↩