File No. 862.85/558
The Secretary of State to the Peruvian Minister ( Freyre y Santander)
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of August 21,1 wherein you state that you have been informed that an agreement has been reached between your Government and the representative of the Shipping Board at Lima for the purpose of utilizing the German ships interned in Peruvian ports. You state that these negotiations had their origin in the declarations made by the American Chargé d’Affaires at Lima with regard to the guarantee which the United States Government was disposed to offer against any [Page 717] consequences prejudicial to Peru caused by the use of the German ships interned in her ports. The Government of Peru considered that when these assurances were formally sanctioned that it would remove the objections felt towards taking a step laden with certain dangers. You conclude your note by stating that as hitherto no formal confirmation of this undertaking has been given by the United States Government, the Government of Peru would greatly appreciate that this Government would, in order to conclude speedily the pending negotiations, ratify explicitly the above-mentioned declarations of the American Chargé at Lima.
In answer to your note, I take pleasure in informing you that the Government of the United States will accept the responsibility, in case negotiations are concluded between the United States Shipping Board and the Peruvian Government, for the use of the ex-German ships in Peru, in the event of any international claim arising from the use of these ships being brought against the Government of Peru.
Accept [etc.]
- Not printed.↩