711F.1914/439
The Panamanian Embassy to the Department of State
Memorandum
The Government of Panama has received with pleasure the information furnished to it by its Ambassador at Washington regarding the acceptance by the Government of the United States of America of the modification introduced by the said Ambassador in point five, out of the twelve involved in the just aspirations of Panama to obtain certain compensations for the vital concessions which Panama has granted for the defense of the Panama Canal, to the effect that the Panamanian Government should fix a specific sum of money which the Government of the United States of America will pay annually to the Republic of Panama, as compensation for the damage done to the Panamanian highways by the transit over them of the American motorized army.
The Government of Panama, in accordance with its purpose of accelerating as far as may be possible to it the course of these negotiations which it considers of invaluable importance for the United States of America and for the Republic of Panama, and being aware that it is incumbent upon it to indicate the value of the damage annually suffered by its highways, which value is to be compensated for in part by the American Government, has made minute and detailed studies regarding the conservation of its national roads, and has arrived at the conclusion that the expense which it incurs in order to keep them in good condition amounts approximately to the sum of three hundred thousand dollars a year.
The Panamanian Government, being aware that the cost of repair of its roads is so high because the greater part of their wear and tear has been occasioned by the mechanized equipment of the American army which continually passes over them, and knowing the sincere spirit of collaboration which animates the high American officials of the present Administration, estimates that it would be a matter of strict equity and justice that the Government of the United States of America should contribute to the repair of the Panamanian highways the sum of one hundred thousand dollars a year, that is to say the third part of their total cost.
- The Spanish text of this memorandum as printed in Panamá, Memoria Que el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores Presenta a la Asamblea Nacional de 1943, p. 280, is dated February 23, 1942.↩