Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 3, 1912
File No. 437.00/32.
The American Minister to the Secretary of State.
Habana, March 5, 1912.
Sir: Referring to previous correspondence in regard to the so-called “insurrectionary claims” against Cuba, and particularly to [Page 282] my despatch No. 104 of the 12th ultimo, I have the honor to transmit herewith enclosed copy and translation of a personal note and enclosure received from Sr. Sanguily, wherein he informs me as to the more recent developments in his negotiations with the representatives of the three interested powers.
I have [etc.]
The Cuban Secretary of State to the American Minister.
Habana, March 4, 1912.
My Dear Mr. Minister: As it seems to me but natural and appropriate, after my letter of February 9, that I should not leave you in ignorance of the course of the insurrectionary claims, and especially what has transpired since then, I beg to advise you that on the 22d ultimo, as published in the newspapers, the Ministers of Germany, England and France came to the Department to ask me for the reply of the Cuban Government to the proposal contained in the memorandum which they handed me on November 7, 1911, in which they submitted that the matter of the claims of their subjects should be settled by arbitration.
Animated by the same purpose of putting off a definite reply that I have heretofore had to pursue for reasons explained to you in my former letter, I offered certain arguments and exceptions, and as they asked me to reduce them to writing in the form of a memorandum which I had written the day before and now have the honor to transmit to you, confidentially, so that you may be acquainted as to what point we have arrived in this difficult situation.
With assurances [etc.]
The Cuban Secretary of State to the Ministers of France, Germany and Great Britain.
The Secretary of State of the Republic of Cuba has the honor to submit to the consideration of T. E. the Ministers of Germany, France and England a few remarks in respect to the memorandum that they handed to him on November 7, 1911, which embodies the point of view of the Cuban Government upon the subject of the claims filed by citizens of those nations for damages which they allege to have suffered in their interests or property during the war for independence of 1895–98.
The Government of the Republic does not reject in principle now, as it has not previously rejected, the appeal to arbitration; but it reiterates, on the contrary, its adherence to the principle of settling international disputes by that means. Unequivocal proofs of this are to be found in the Hague Convention of October 18, 1907, signed by Cuba’s delegates and approved by the Senate on March 10, 1909, and in the Convention of Rio Janeiro of August 13, 1906, approved and ratified during a recess of the Senate by the Provisional Governor on March 17, 1908. And the Secretary of State, speaking in its name, and for the very reason that an attempt has been made to make it appear to the contrary to the damage and discredit of Cuba, hastens to declare that the Republic stands ready now and always to pay what it legitimately owes and is proved to owe beyond any shadow of doubt.
From data communicated to the Department of State it would appear that the claims—which, though improperly, have also been called “debts”—are of three classes, to wit:
- 1.
- Those alleged to be obligations based on documents signed by corps commanders and by the General-in-Chief of the Army of Liberation, for sums received on various grounds for the Revolution.
- 2.
- Damage caused to the property of French, English and German subjects, attributed to revolutionary forces, which must surely be supported also by documentary evidence.
- 3.
- Robberies—so they are called in some of the claims—for which it is sought to attach responsibility to the revolutionary forces and consequently to the Government of the Republic.
With respect to the first two classes of claims the Secretary of State, voicing not only his personal conviction and the contention repeatedly maintained by the Government of the Republic but the general public opinion of Cuba as well, begs to invite the Ministers’ attention to the following points:
- 1.
- That claims supported by documents signed by generals and corps commanders of the Army of Liberation, or arising from proved obligations contracted by the Revolutionary Government or lawfully in its name, ought not and can not be submitted to arbitration; because, coming as they do within the terms of the First Transient Provision of the Constitution, they must as therein prescribed be passed upon by the Cuban Congress, which, if it finds them correct and legitimate, will order their payment; and as the Constitution provides a simple and easy procedure for the purpose it would be inappropriate to resort to arbitration, which in any ease is a costly expedient and in this case is wholly unnecessary, for it would be sufficient for each claimant personally or each legation in the name of its nationals to apply to Congress through the Executive by petition for the consideration of the claims by that body and payment in a proper case, transmitting with their claims the documentary evidence upon which they are based.
- 2.
- That in respect of claims for damages caused to property by military necessity, inasmuch as there is a radical discrepancy of opinion between the Governments of Germany, England and France on one side and the Cuban Government on the other, the proposal to submit them to arbitration would, in the absence of any other means of settling them diplomatically, be considered by the Cuban Government. But it must be borne in mind that in order to resort to this means of settlement it would first be necessary to apply to Congress for authorization in such form as it might deem appropriate, in accordance with the said First Transient Provision of the Constitution, which limits the powers of the Executive in respect to obligations contracted by authorities and agents of the Revolution in the circumstances and under the conditions prescribed by that provision; and because Congress alone can, if the application is approved, make the necessary appropriation for the expenses of the arbitration.
In respect of the other claims, included in the third class under the head of “robberies,” the Secretary of State considers them inadmissible because the present Republic of Cuba having become, according to the reasoning of the claimant powers, identified with the Revolution of 1895, if for no other reason than the respect which the Revolution inspires in the Cuban Government, and its own decorum, it cannot possibly accept on any ground the name of thieves for the soldiers of the Army of Liberation, nor responsibility for deeds which, if committed, were isolated and individual and imputable solely to malefactors.
The Secretary of State has stipulated that these remarks shall not be regarded as counterpropositions but merely as observations and points of view, although they might be reduced to counterpropositions later if accepted as the bases for an agreement by the claimant powers, as the Secretary hoped; for what to him was most important was to arrive promptly at some practicable and easy solution or arrangement in harmony with the good relations which happily exist between the several Governments concerned and that of the Republic of Cuba.
Habana, February 28, 1912.