William Jennings Bryan to Woodrow Wilson

Title

William Jennings Bryan to Woodrow Wilson

Creator

Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925

Identifier

WWP18066

Date

1913 October 4

Source

Wilson Papers, Library of Congress, Library of Congress, Washington, District of Columbia

Subject

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924--Correspondence

Text

My dear Mr. President

I called your attention yesterday to contract No. 7 for a concession to build a short railroad between the Lake and the Pacific Ocean in Nicaragua. I do not like to have a concession connected with the loan and would rather leave it to be acted upon separately after the loan is made and when the Government is under no compulsion. The Government, however, seems disposed to give this concession, and I have inserted three amendments which I thought would protect Nicaragua; one limiting the franchise to the territory between the Lake and the Pacific, another making it subject to any canal or railroad rights which the Republic of Nicaragua may hereafter grant to the United States, and a third providing that in case of any sale of the road the new corporation shall give the Nicaraguan Government 49% of its stock --this amendment was suggested to prevent any sale that would deprive the Government of its present interest in the railroad. There are two other provisions which I think ought to go in, but which Judge Douglas thinks the bankers would not consent to. You will notice that the concession is exclusive. The fact that the Government has 49% of the stock makes the exclusive feature less important; still, I am not disposed to favor anything down there that I would not favor here and an exclusive franchise is abhorrent, especially when running ninety-nine years. It is impossible to look into the future and measure the value of such a monopoly and, therefore, no compensation can be secured for it even if it were proper for one generation thus to bind a succeeding generation. I shall not, therefore, consent to the exclusive feature unless you, upon consideration of the matter, express a desire that the contract should be approved in this form.
The second condition which I thought ought to go in there is one giving to the Government the right to purchase upon an equitable basis. This is the more important in case the concession is exclusive. It might not be so necessary for the Government to have a right to buy if it could build a competing line or permit a competing line; but while I think it would be unwise to permit an exclusive franchise under any conditions, it would be still more unwise to do so without a provision permitting the Government to purchase on equitable terms.
I would like to have your views also in regard to having a man connected with this enterprise upon whom we can rely for information as to what is going on. There seems to be a difference of opinion between Brown Brothers and myself as to what would be proper. My idea is that among their employees there should be one in the railroad, one in the bank, and one connected with the customs who would be designated by the Department, in order that he might be some one upon whose reports we could rely. He would perform the regular work of an employee and, therefore, there would be no extra expense. Brown Brothers seem to object to having one of their employees who would be under obligation to keep us informed and express a willingness to have an inspector who would receive proper pay and have access to the books. That, of course, would be an additional expense to the company and, to my mind, would not be so satisfactory as an employee working with the other employees. We are not in a position to ask anything of Brown Brothers at all except as they desire to use the moral influence of the Department to protect their interests. If they have a right to claim the moral influence of the Department, the Department ought to be in a position to know what is going on and I cannot see that there can be any reasonable objection to one of the employees in each branch of the service being known to be in contact with the Department. You will notice what Judge Douglas says on this subject. We are not asking that the Government of Nicaragua shall permit us to appoint any of her officials or inspect their work, but in so far as Brown Brothers send Americans there to do work for them I cannot see any inconsistency in allowing one of these officials in each department to be a means of securing the information that we need to enable us to know whether the conduct of the company is such as to justify us in lending it moral support.

With assurances of respect, etc., I am, my dear Mr. President,
William Jennings Bryan


The President,
The White House.

Original Format

Letter

To

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924

Files

http://resources.presidentwilson.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Temp00553.pdf

Citation

Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925, “William Jennings Bryan to Woodrow Wilson,” 1913 October 4, WWP18066, First Year Wilson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.