881.822/109: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Diplomatic Agent and Consul General at Tangier (Blake)
4. Your despatch No. 92, April 24, 1926. The Department approves your conclusions in regard to the proposed modification to the Cape Spartel Lighthouse and you may draw up a reply to the President of the International Commission signifying this Government’s acceptance of the proffered assistance of the Direction General of the Public Works of the French Protectorate strictly subject to the reservations of principle set forth on page 5 of your despatch under reference.29
As regards the question of sound signals, however, the Department has been informed by the expert of the Bureau of Lighthouses that there is nothing to choose between the Diaphone and Siren systems, that the latter is in far more general use on the oceanic coasts of the United States, and that its cost is half that of the Diaphone. The latter moreover is not manufactured in the United States. Unless, therefore, you find compelling reasons to the contrary, the Department is of [Page 753] the opinion that the Siren system should be adopted, especially as a majority vote in favor of the Diaphone might, as you indicate, involve either the blocking of the much needed program or an unnecessary expenditure of funds on the part of the United States Government to meet the difference in cost between two systems which are equally efficacious.
The Department further approves your suggestion that you should make informal objections against the limitation of opportunity in the matter of bids, as indicated in paragraph 2, page 11, of your despatch under reference.30