723.2515/2175: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul at Arica (Von Tresckow)
For Lassiter. Your telegram April 21, 6 p.m. After conferring with Mr. Hughes and my associates I am able to advise you that all of us are thoroughly convinced that extension of registration period, as requested on April 20, is only safe course at this juncture and should be followed. If the present registration is allowed to lapse and no extension is voted before it ends, it is clear that a new situation would be created and new legal questions would appear, opening new fields of controversy.
Please try to understand our situation here and appreciate difficulty we have in conveying to you adequate understanding of all the factors with which we are faced. I must ask you to accept our judgment, which is that any new situation such as I have referred to above would seriously prejudice, if it would not entirely defeat, prospects of a settlement. It does not seem at all necessary to us to inject at this time any new complication. I have just been advised, moreover, that Chile has agreed to instruct her delegate on Commission to vote in favor of resolution extending time of registration by 25 days, that is, up to and including May 20 or 21. It is of greatest importance to put this through at earliest possible moment, and I should appreciate your cabling me at once date when Commission will meet to consider this matter and also cable date to Ambassador Collier. I am hopeful, too, that Freyre will vote for the resolution, although it is immaterial whether extension is voted by majority or unanimously. Should negotiations later require further extensions, no doubt they can be arranged.