884.6461 Tsana Dam/40
Memorandum by the Chief of the Near Eastern Division (Shaw)
Mr. Gano Dunn, President of J. G. White & Company, and Mr. Osborne called this morning to talk over the matter of the Lake Tsana Dam construction. Mr. Dunn gave me to understand that besides the proposal made to Dr. Martin in writing which Dr. Martin had showed me he (Mr. Dunn) had given Dr. Martin another document [Page 609] possibly of a more detailed character. In any event, Mr. Dunn said that the proposal had been stated to Dr. Martin in sufficiently definite terms so that if it is accepted by the Prince Regent of Ethiopia a contractual relationship between the J. G. White Company and the Ethiopian Government will then and there be created. From some of Mr. Dunn’s remarks I rather gathered the impression at the beginning of our conversation that he proposed to get the concession from the Ethiopia Government and with the basis of this fait accompli carry on the necessary negotiations with the British Government. When I ventured the opinion that negotiations on the basis of a fait accompli frequently did not run very smoothly Mr. Dunn explained that they had no such intention in mind. He made it clear that if the Prince Regent accepts the proposal which Dr. Martin is carrying with him there will then be what might be described as a contract to enter into a contract subject to certain conditions which would make British cooperation essential. When the Prince Regent signifies his approval Mr. Dunn proposes that J. G. White & Company shall send a representative (probably himself) to Addis Ababa to reach a detailed understanding with the Ethiopian Government. As a result of this visit Mr. Dunn hopes to be able to draw up what is known as the “yellow copy” of a concession. With this “yellow copy” in his possession Mr. Dunn would then proceed to London with a view to securing the necessary approval from the British Government. After this approval has been received the concession would be definitely given and would recite in its terms the approval of the British Government.
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Mr. Dunn referred to an article which had appeared in the New York Evening Sun of November 10th and which in his opinion reflects the views of the British Foreign Office. This article intimates that the British Government does not object to the construction of the dam by an American concern on the distinct understanding that the dam, once constructed, will be managed by a Board on which the British are suitably represented.
Mr. Dunn asked me if I could tell him whether the British Ambassador had made any representations to the Department concerning the Lake Tsana Dam matter. I replied that so far as I was aware the only reference made by the Ambassador had been an inquiry of a distinctly parenthetical nature addressed to Mr. Castle at the close of a conversation which the Ambassador had with Mr. Castle on an entirely different and unrelated subject. I said that the Ambassador had been informed on this occasion that so far as we were aware no contract had been concluded between the J. G. White Company and the Ethiopian Government. Mr. Dunn said that he was going to see the British [Page 610] Ambassador at tea this afternoon and that he wanted to talk with him on the matter quite frankly. I said that I saw no possible objection to his doing so. I read to Mr. Dunn the articles of the British-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902 and the British-French-Italian Agreement concerning Ethiopia of 1906 which had to do with the Lake Tsana Dam construction.31 He said he was rather bothered by an exchange of notes which he understood had taken place after the 1902 Treaty between the Emperor Menelik’s chamberlain and a British representative. According to Mr. Dunn’s understanding this exchange of notes bound the Ethiopian Government to let a British concern build the Lake Tsana Dam if the British concern could make as advantageous a proposal as anybody else. It was pointed out to Mr. Dunn that this exchange of notes took place before the conclusion of the 1902 Treaty and since it was not mentioned among the various agreements the existence of which is specifically recognized by Article I of the British-French and Italian Agreement of 1906, there was a good deal to be said against the theory that this exchange of notes is still binding upon the Ethiopian Government. It was pointed out, however, to Mr. Dunn that the exchange of notes had been recently mentioned by the British Foreign Secretary. Mr. Dunn was also informed that the Department had sent to London for the text of the notes in question.
Mr. Dunn made it perfectly clear that in his opinion the cooperation of the British Government will be essential to any plan for the construction of the Lake Tsana Dam. He had no doubt whatsoever that without this cooperation any plan would be financially impossible. I said that we hoped that all parties concerned would examine the question on its merits and that it would not degenerate into a diplomatic quarrel between governments, with treaty provisions being bandied about as weapons. Mr. Dunn gave me to understand that he was in entire sympathy with this point of view. He said that J. G. White & Company was in a particularly strong position to handle the matter in the way I suggested, since they were well known to the British Government and since they maintain many British connections. Their British house, while still retaining the name of J. G. White, is owned by Mr. Booth of the Booth Steamship Lines.
- Signed at London, Dec. 13, 1906; British and Foreign State Papers, 1905–1906, vol. xcix, p. 486.↩