817.00/3113a: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Chargé in Nicaragua (Thurston)
82. You will please present the following note to the Minister for Foreign Affairs:
“I am instructed by my Government to state to Your Excellency that the Government of the United States has learned with much satisfaction [Page 492] of the steps taken by the Nicaraguan Government to assure free and fair elections to the Nicaraguan people. The first step in this direction was the invitation to Doctor Harold W. Dodds to draw up an electoral law. This law was duly enacted by the Nicaraguan Congress and as a second step the Nicaraguan Government invited Doctor Dodds and certain assistants to come to Nicaragua during the early period of registration and one of Doctor Dodds’ assistants was contracted with to remain until after the elections.
My Government learned with gratification that under the new electoral law a greater proportion of voters has been registered than ever before in Nicaragua. The carrying out of the registration demonstrated, however, the many difficulties encountered in the administration tor the first time of such an important measure as an electoral law, the provisions of which were new and unfamiliar alike to the officials administering it as to the public which was exercising its rights under this law for the first time.
My Government was pleased to learn that Doctor Dodds and his assistants were of great value in helping the Nicaraguan officials to find satisfactory solutions for many of the questions which came up in connection with the administration of this law. It has been evident, however, that the unfamiliarity of the local electoral officials with the provisions of the new electoral law has created certain difficulties in the administration thereof which makes evident the desirability of continuing the help which Doctor Dodds and his assistants were able to render during the months of February, March and April of this year. Therefore, in its desire to prevent a repetition of the difficulties experienced during the period of registration which, should they occur during the preparations for and the actual voting in October, might easily defeat the Government’s purpose to hold truly free elections and in order to assist President Martinez in holding the forthcoming elections under conditions which will remove any doubt that the administration coming into office as the result of the elections is representative of the will of the majority of the people and thus merits the recognition of this and other Governments, and in order to make possible the withdrawal of the Legation Guard in January, 1925, without danger of subsequent disturbances in Nicaragua, my Government desires to suggest to the Nicaraguan Government the advisability of requesting Doctor Dodds to come to Nicaragua the middle of September with sufficient assistants to permit him to be of the utmost help to the Nicaraguan Government in carrying out its pledges of free and fair election. My Government feels that one assistant in each of the thirteen electoral districts with an additional assistant to help Doctor Dodds in his work of advising the central government should be sufficient and it accordingly suggests that an invitation be extended to Doctor Dodds to come to Nicaragua the middle of September to remain for approximately a month.
In making this suggestion my Government desires me to make it clear that it is highly sensible of the assurances given by the Nicaraguan Government for the proper conduct of the approaching elections and that it fully appreciates and is most gratified by the evidence already given by the Nicaraguan Government of its intention of fulfilling these pledges. My Government’s suggestion must therefore in no wise be considered as a sign of lack of confidence in [Page 493] the intention of the Nicaraguan Government. On the contrary my Government has every confidence and expectation that the Nicaraguan Government will loyally carry out its obligations in this respect. My Government, however, is most anxious that there be no question regarding the claim of the person coming into office as the result of the forthcoming elections to the recognition of this and the neighboring Republics as the constitutionally elected President of Nicaragua. My Government is also, as Your Excellency is well aware, most anxious to withdraw the Legation Guard upon the installation of the new government on January 1, 1925, without in any wise jeopardizing the normal course of the affairs in the Republic and that this withdrawal shall not be a cause for unrest and disturbance. Having seen the difficult problems presented during the registration by the administration of the law the workings of which are as yet unfamiliar to the officials and electorate of Nicaragua, and having seen the invaluable assistance given by Doctor Dodds and his assistants in overcoming these difficulties my Government has felt that it could be of very considerable help to the Nicaraguan Government in carrying out its pledges by helping it to obtain the advice and counsel of Doctor Dodds and his necessary assistants.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .