423.11 L 23/294

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Peru ( Gonzales )

No. 1

Sir: Mr. Smith’s despatches Nos. 431 and 432, of December 10, and December 17, 1919,11 concerning the proposed arbitration of the Landreau claim against Peru, were duly received, and the Protocol submitted by the Peruvian Government providing for arbitration by The Hague Tribunal, a copy of which accompanied your despatch of December 10, has been carefully considered.

I am very much gratified that the Peruvian Government has shown in a definite and concrete way its willingness to submit this longstanding claim to arbitration, with a view not only to doing justice to the claimants, but also to removing, once for all, a question concerning which there has been for many years a divergence of opinion between this Government and the Government of Peru. However, [Page 674] taking into consideration all of the facts and circumstances, I believe that it would be more convenient and less expensive to both of the Governments concerned to have this matter settled by a special arbitral Commission, to sit at some place in the Western Hemisphere, rather than to submit it to The Hague Tribunal. Accordingly, the Department has drawn up a new Protocol, providing for the submission of the case to a Commission to sit at Habana, Cuba, and duplicate copies of this Protocol are enclosed herewith.13 If, for any reason, the Peruvian Government objects to having the Commission sit at Habana, this Government will agree to either Caracas, Venezuela, or Ottawa, Canada.

It is deemed advisable to submit the whole question of the claim for arbitration to the Commission upon its merits, rather than to attempt to specify the various points concerning which there has been disagreement. It will remain for the agents of the two Governments to discuss these points before the Commission. Therefore, this Government is willing to omit from the Protocol any statement involving an admission of liability on the part of Peru, although such admission appears to have been contained in the note of August 13, 1912,13 from the Peruvian Foreign Minister to the American Minister, and the Protocol which was proposed by the Peruvian Foreign Minister at about the same time, and communicated to the Department in the Legation’s telegram of September 21, 1912.13 In short, it is proposed to submit to the Commission the whole question of liability, and not merely the question of the amount.

As you will note, the proposed arbitral Commission is to be composed of three members, one to be selected by each Government interested, and the third to be selected by the first two, from among the nationals of The Netherlands, Norway, or Denmark.

The fourteenth Article of the proposed Protocol contains a specific provision for the compensation to be granted to the Commissioners. While the Department is inclined to believe that it is well to include such a provision in the Protocol, in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding, it does not insist upon its inclusion.

You will please present this matter at your earliest opportunity to the Peruvian Foreign Minister, in accordance with the foregoing statement, and inform the Department fully in writing of his reply. It would also be well for you to telegraph briefly the substance of the reply.

With reference to the suggestion in Mr. Smith’s despatch of December 10, last, I believe that it would be well for you to avail yourself of a suitable opportunity to mention this matter informally to [Page 675] the President, who has already shown a desire to have the claim settled.

For your information I enclose a copy of a memorandum prepared in the Department, May 6, 1920,14 giving a brief review of the Landreau claim, and the various attempts to have it settled. For further information you are referred to the Department’s instruction, No. 60, of December 16, 1908,14 to Minister Combs, and the exhaustive memorandum which accompanied it.

I am [etc.]

Bainbridge Colby
  1. Neither printed; William Walker Smith had been Chargé at Lima.
  2. Not printed.
  3. Not printed.
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