Sargent to Count Hatzfeldt, April 30, 1883

Mr. Sargent to Count Hatzfeldt.

The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America, has the honor, acting under instructions from his Government, to lay before his excellency Count Hatzfeldt, imperial secretary of state for foreign affairs, a copy of a document received from the honorable Secretary of State at Washington, No. 102½, containing an ample showing of the existing liabilities of Venezuela to various Governments, including the imperial Government and those of France and the United States, and of the present condition of negotiations relating thereto; the efforts of the United States by mediation to produce a just and satisfactory solution; their views upon the present aspect of the matter, and the course which the United States would adopt with the concurrence of the imperial Government, whose views are requested in the hope of a proper settlement being secured.

This document is so ample in its statements that the undersigned will only call to his excellency’s attention the facts emphasized by the Secretary of State, that “the failure to attain a peaceful settlement as between France and Venezuela, and a resort to force by the former to collect her debt, could not but disastrously affect the ability of Venezuela to meet her just obligations towards the other creditor Governments; that the common interest of all is concerned in reaching an amicable solution of the complex problem presented, and that the United States, themselves creditors, will nevertheless subserve their interests in the matter to the common good.”

While respectfully requesting early attention to this subject, the undersigned avails, &c.,