File No. 837.6112/14.
The American Chargé d’Affaires to the Secretary of State.
Habana, September 20, 1912.
Sir: Referring to previous correspondence in regard to the Ciénaga de Zapata concession, I have the honor to enclose herewith copy of a letter and memorandum,1 together with the accompanying blue print and pamphlet, handed me to-day by Mr. Isaac K. Champion, an American contractor of this city who states that he is interested in the company which seeks the concession. Mr. Champion says that he will in a few days submit the several papers mentioned in the memorandum as enclosures.
The blue print submitted shows the Ciénaga as lying, approximately, between Longitude 74° 15′ and 75° 30′, and—with a northerly curvature—Latitude 22° and 22° 30′. The land shown to the south, between the Ciénaga and the saltmarsh and sea, is the Peninsula de Zapata.
One of the objections to the concession was that the decree authorizing the grant did not seek to define the extent of the Ciénaga. This is important in view of the fact that hardly two maps show it alike, and many of them show it as extending all the way from Cienfuegos to Batabanó.
The chief objection to the concession was the opportunity that it apparently offered for the exploitation of timber resources. Mr. Champion says that there is no timber in the Ciénaga, and that the object of his company is exclusively to reclaim land for agricultural [Page 318] purposes. If this be true, and Mr. Champion’s company is willing to waive in the concession all forestry rights and make the grant otherwise more specific, then practically the only objections which the Legation had in view when it reported upon this matter will have been removed.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩