818.014C/104
The Minister in Costa Rica (Hornibrook) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 5, 1939.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my despatch No. 107 of December 22, 1937, to the Department’s instruction No. 34 of January 4, to my despatch No. 152 of February 16, 1938, and to report as follows:
In a conversation under date of December 27, Major General David Lamme Stone stated that after making a thorough inspection of Cocos Island, in company with Rear Admiral J. W. Wilcox, he had agreed with the latter as to the necessity of making a joint report to the War and Navy Departments urging the early purchase or lease of Cocos Island from the Costa Rican Government. The General added that the report was now in course of preparation and would be despatched to Washington in the near future.
According to General Stone, it was the judgment of the senior army and naval officers who made a recent trip to the Island that its purchase or lease is absolutely vital to the defense of the Panama Canal. He stated that there are two points on the Island which could easily be converted into bases for sea planes, and as an outpost for the defense of the canal it is essential to control these potential bases of operation. He first suggested the outright purchase, but later stated that a long term lease of the Island, in whole or in part, would answer the purpose of the army and naval authorities entrusted with the defense of the Zone.
I may add that the General stated in confidence that from the standpoint of troops, airplanes, concrete roads, housing facilities and bypasses around each lock, the canal is inadequately defended, and asserted that no commanding officer could feel at all secure in providing for its defense unless these needs are speedily remedied.
The General expressed the fear that sooner or later German, Japanese or Italian interests may launch a commercial air service in Central America in competition with the Pan American Airways, and, in such event, add to the problem of providing for the proper defense of the Zone. He was particularly concerned in regard to the potential air field which the Japanese have acquired by lease under the guise of a cotton growing project in the vicinity of Puntarenas. The leasing of this property was reported in my despatch No. 236 of May 9, 1938,7 and photographs of the same have since been taken by the clerk assigned to the office of the Military Attaché of this Legation. These photographs confirmed prior reports which the General had received to the effect that the property had in fact been acquired by the Japanese as a possible landing field.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩