823.30/218
The Secretary of State to the Peruvian Ambassador (Freyre)
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of December 16, 1937, making formal request on behalf of your Government that this Government acquiesce in the proposal contained in the informal memorandum transmitted under cover of your note of September 3, 1937.
A copy of your note has been referred to the Navy Department which recently informed the Department of State that it was prepared to furnish a naval mission to your Government should it be requested. I am informed furthermore by the Navy Department that the composition and compensation of the naval mission as proposed in the memorandum accompanying your note of September 3 are agreeable to the Navy Department which is prepared, moreover, to furnish the three additional petty officers mentioned in your note under acknowledgment.
The Navy Department states that for obvious reasons it is impracticable to provide your Government, in advance, with a list of available officers from which your Government might make a selection. Your Excellency may be assured, however, that no one will be assigned to such duty without the prior approval of Your Excellency’s Government.
In accordance with the verbal request of the Naval Attaché to your Embassy, on December 10, 1937, a draft of a contract for officers for the proposed mission will shortly be forwarded through the Department of State to Your Excellency. The Navy Department has suggested that further negotiations concerning the proposed mission be [Page 892] carried on by direct conversation and writing between the Naval Attaché to Your Excellency’s Embassy and the Division of Naval Intelligence of the Navy Department.
Accept [etc.]