Chargé Sleeper to
the Secretary of State.
American Legation,
Habana, January 13,
1906.
No. 1438.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of
department instructions No. 569, of December 21, 1905,a relative to the
sanitation of
[Page 504]
the cities of
the island of Cuba, and beg to advise you that the matter was at once
brought to the attention of the secretary of state and justice, as per
legation note No. 800, of January 1, 1906, copy herewith inclosed, which
closely follows the above-mentioned instructions. I presented this note
in person to Mr. O’Farrill, and in our subsequent conversation
endeavored to impress upon him that it was the earnest wish of President
Roosevelt and yourself that there be no further delay on the part of
Cuba in fulfilling her obligations. Señor O’Farrill replied that the
Cuban Government, and particularly Mr. Palma, is most anxious that there
shall be no further delay, but added that the President, in the instance
of Habana, is strongly opposed to a municipal loan and desires time in
which to devise other ways and means that will be acceptable to all
parties concerned, saying in conclusion that he, the President,
entertains strong hopes that Congress will take the matter up shortly,
and thereby materially aid in the solution of the problem.
Despite my reiterated request that he state a given time in the near
future for carrying out the existing engagements in the premises, the
Secretary refused to commit himself, answering vaguely that he hoped the
matter would be settled within the next four months or so.
I consider Mr. O’Farrill’s reply to my note, dated January 10, 1906, copy
and translation of which are inclosed herewith, most unsatisfactory in
that no promise or assurance of prompt action is given, the Secretary
confining himself to the mere repetition of his verbal statement to me,
viz, that the President confidently hopes that the matter will be
shortly taken up and efficaciously acted upon by Congress.
I am, etc.,
Jacob Sleeper,
Chargé d’Affaires ad
interim.
[Inclosure 1.]
Chargé Sleeper
to Secretary of State and
Justice.
Your Excellency: In continuation of Mr.
Squier’s note of March 31, 1905, and acting under particular
instructions, I have the honor to communicate to you further views
of my Government with reference to the carrying out of the
engagement contained in the appendix to the Cuban constitution and
affirmed in the fifth article of the treaty of May 22, 1903, between
the United States and the Republic of Cuba, for the maintenance and,
so far as necessary, the extension of the plans then already devised
or other plans’ mutually to be agreed upon for the sanitation of the
cities of the Island of Cuba.
The secretary of state especially refers to your excellency’s reply
(April 18, 1905) to Mr. Squier’s note and to the message
communicated to the Cuban Congress by the President on April 28
last. The last paper in particular shows the extreme importance
attached by the Cuban executive to the faithful execution of the
existing engagements in the premises.
Legislation has since been proposed in the Cuban Congress looking to
the adoption of extensive measures of sanitation throughout the
island, the matters especially brought to the attention of that body
by President Palma’s message of April 28 do not appear to have been
acted upon. That this inaction is not due to any misconception of
the importance or urgency of the matter is evident from the first
“considerando” of the bill introduced in the House of
Representatives on September 29 last, which reads:
[Page 505]
“Considering that the Cuban State could not in any case elude the
responsibility that would fall upon it if, for lack of attention or
vigilance in sanitary matters, the American Government should demand
the fulfillment of the agreement between us on the subject of
hygiene, and that, in view of the fact that international duties
directly affect the central authority, it is not possible to
delegate them to any other organization, either provincial or
municipal.” as well as from the concluding paragraph of Article I of
the said bill, which reads:
“The city of Habana shall continue with its present organization in
this respect, using the amounts set down in the general budget for
services already established, and the legislative credits
appropriated for special works under way.”
While the needful measures for improving the sanitary conditions of
other cities of the island, devised and set on foot by the military
authorities of the United States, were to some extent incomplete
owing to the magnitude of the task and the briefness of the term of
American occupation, those adopted with regard to the capital city
were matured with care and applied with success, so that the health
of Habana was bettered to a notable degree. Conditions were
established and improvements set under way which have continued up
to a recent date to maintain the salubrity of Habana, and which have
demonstrated by their results the practical wisdom of their choice.
What shortcomings may now be apparent are obviously attributable,
not to the defects in the devised scheme, but to its ineffective
completion in all its parts.
The present conditions in the island naturally attract attention in
my country. The great and growing intercourse between the United
States and the Republic is mainly carried on through the capital and
in large part through the populous provincial cities, in all of
which effective sanitation is an imperative need and the consummaton
of adequate measures to that end a public duty.
It appears to the President to be a timely, and at the same time a
truly friendly, act to call the attention of the Cuban Government
anew to the question of public sanitation and, in view of the very
prosperous condition of the finances of the Republic, of the,
importance of allowing no hindrance to check the increasing commerce
of Cuba, and of the occasion which now seems to call for earnest
effort to maintain and perfect the good work of the past few years,
to urge that there be no further delay in the execution of the
unfinished part of the comprehensive plan heretofore set under way,
particularly in regard to the paving and draining of the city of
Habana.
I take this opportunity to reiterate, etc.,
(Signed)
Jacob
Sleeper,
Chargé d’Affaires ad
interim.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
The Secretary of State and
Justice of the Republic of Cuba to Chargé Sleeper.
Department of State and Justice,
Division of
State,
Habana, January 10,
1906.
Mr. Chargé d’affaires: I have the honor to
acknowledge receipt of your honor’s polite note, No. 800, of the 1st
instant, in which you are good enough to state the views of the
Government of the United States with reference to the carrying out
of the engagement contained in the fifth article of the treaty of
May 22, 1903, for the maintenance and, in so far as necessary, the
extension of plans already devised or other plans which may be
mutually agreed upon relative to the sanitation of the cities of
this island, and particularly calling attention to the project for
paving and draining the city of Habana.
With reference to this matter, I must confirm this department’s note
No. 236, dated April 18 last year, referred to in the note of your
honor to which I have the pleasure of replying, and which expressed
the interest which this Government has taken in carrying out
throughout the territory of the Republic the sanitary plans put into
practice during the American intervention, which have been perfected
since the 20th of May, 1902, as is shown by the decrease of
mortality to be observed since that date and the decided purpose of
the President to contribute to the realization of the sewering and
paving of this capital, a matter to which he is now giving
particular attention.
[Page 506]
Your honor states that, subsequent to the legation’s note of March
21, the President addressed a message to Congress in terms
expressing the importance which we give to the fulfillment of the
engagement made, and that afterwards there have been presented
several bills relating to the premises, among those that of
September 29 last, in the preamble of which, transcribed in your
note above referred to, allusion is even made to the responsibility
which would be incurred by the Government of Cuba for its lack of
attention and vigilance in sanitary services—a charge, however, not
imputable to this Government—for the sole purpose of obtaining the
approval of the bill in the shortest possible time; and the
references so made by your honor relieve me of the necessity of
citing them in my effort to make manifest the real light in which we
place the importance of our engagement and as a positive excuse for
the inaction in the premises attributed to this Government by
yours.
Now, then, if it is true that Congress, because of well-known
circumstances, has failed to respond to the most urgent
recommendations of the President, the latter is justly confident—and
it gives me pleasure to so inform your honor—that within a short
time the solution of this matter will’ be favorably and
efficaciously taken up by Congress.
And, finally, as in your polite note your honor alludes to the
sanitary condition of the island, stating that the occasion seems to
have arrived to make an extreme effort to maintain and perfect the
work of the last two years, it remains for me but to say that just
at this time we have the flattering example of the extermination of
the epidemic of yellow fever imported into the Republic, thanks only
to the extended practice of established methods and to the
employment of elements at the disposal of the sanitary officers,
which speaks highly of their zeal and competence and is a fact that
disproves any supposition contrary to the excellent state of health
which we enjoy.
I reiterate, etc.,
(Signed)
Juan F. O’Farrill,
Secretary.
