837.00/1509
The Acting Secretary of State to the Minister in Cuba (Gonzales)
Sir: The Department is in receipt of Mr. Bingham’s Despatch, No. 912, of January 18,2 in which he reported that he had conveyed [Page 8] the observations contained in the Department’s telegram of January 15, 6 P.M.4 with reference to the coming elections in Cuba, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in a note with the request that it be presented to President Menocal. Mr. Bingham stated that he took this action because it seemed desirable to him not to neglect any means which would serve to make the matter one of record.
The Department’s telegram of January 15, 6 p.m. instructed Mr. Bingham “to seek the earliest possible moment to convey the substance of the above to President Menocal.”
In view of the phraseology of the telegraphic instruction, the Department is at a loss to understand why Mr. Bingham addressed a note to the Foreign Office with regard to the matter instead of seeking the earliest opportunity to convey orally the substance of the Department’s observations to the President of Cuba.
I am [etc.]