File No. 811.34537/51.
The Secretary of the Navy to the Secretary of State.
Sir: 1. Referring to the Department of State’s letter of the 16th instant,1 forwarding for the consideration of this Department a copy of a dispatch dated the 11th instant, with a translation of its inclosure, from the American Minister at Habana, with reference to the proposed extension of the naval station at Guantánamo, and with particular reference to the question as to whether or not it might be possible for this Government to renounce the west shore and jurisdiction of a strip of navigable water along the western side of the channel in time of peace, I have the honor to state that this Department is of the opinion that the military necessities connected with the naval base at Guantánamo are such as to render it inadvisable for the United States to surrender any of its jurisdiction over the shores and waters of the bay.
2. There are now two Army reservations on the western shores, where considerable work preparatory to fortification has already been done, and it is impossible to determine at the present time what other places on the shores future developments may make it necessary to fortify.
3. It is believed that the fact that jurisdiction has been explicitly granted to the United States, but that the ultimate sovereignty of Cuba is nevertheless acknowledged, makes the situation so clear that it will not be difficult to issue instructions to the commandant at Guantánamo that will effectually prevent all friction with the Cuban [Page 120] authorities and all causes of annoyance; and this the Department will undertake to do.
- Not printed.↩