Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Address of the President to Congress December 8, 1914

File No. 838.00/1157b.

The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Blanchard.

No. 17.]

Department of State,
Washington, November 4, 1914.

Sir: The attached memorandum regarding the establishment of constitutional government in the Republic of Haiti as a result of fair elections is sent to you for your information. Affairs in Haiti have reached such a state of confusion that the Department believes that only some arrangement similar to that outlined in the memorandum will insure the maintenance of public order in the future and permit recuperation from the losses sustained through revolutionary disturbances.

The Department regards the matter of holding elections under the supervision of the United States as of equal importance with the negotiations of the customs convention, draft of which was contained in the Department’s instruction of July 2, 1914. The plan given in the memorandum attached hereto is the same as that successfully put into operation in the Dominican Republic by the American commissioners in October, 1914.

I am [etc.]

Robert Lansing

.

[Inclosure.]

memorandum.

The Government of the United States desires nothing for itself from Haiti and no concessions or advantages for its citizens which are not accorded citizens of other countries. It desires only to prove its sincere and disinterested friendship for the republic and its people and to fulfill its responsibilities as the friend to whom in such crises as the present all the world looks to guide Haiti out of its difficulties.

It, therefore, makes the following earnest representations not Only to the existing de facto government of the Haitian republic, but also to all who are in any way responsible for the present posture of affairs there:

I. It warns everyone concerned that it is absolutely imperative that the present hostilities should cease and that all who are concerned in them should disperse to their several homes, disbanding the existing armed forces and returning to the peaceful occupations upon which the welfare of the people of the republic depends. This is necessary, and necessary at once. Nothing can be successfully accomplished until this is done.

II. It is also necessary that there should be an immediate reconstitution of political authority in the republic. To this end the Government of the United States very solemnly advises all concerned with the public affairs of the republic to adopt the following plan:

1. Let all those who have any pretensions to be chosen President of the Republic and who can make any sufficient show of exercising a recognized leadership and having an acknowledged following agree upon some responsible and representative man to act as provisional President of the republic. If the candidates can agree in this matter, the Government of the United States will recognize and support the man of their choice as provisional President. If they cannot agree, the Government of the United States will itself name a provisional President, sustain him in the assumption of office, and support him in the exercise of his temporary authority. The provisional President will not be a candidate for President.

2. At the earliest feasible date after the establishment and recognition of the provisional government thus established let elections for a regular President and Congress be held under the authority and direction of the provisional President, who will, it must, of course, be understood, exercise during his tenure of office the full powers of President of the republic; but let it be understood that the Government of the United States will send representatives of its own choosing to observe the election throughout the republic and that it will expect those observers not only to be accorded a courteous welcome, but also to be accorded the freest opportunities to observe the circumstances and processes of the election.

3. Let it be understood that if the United States Government is satisfied that these elections have been free and fair and carried out under conditions which enable the people of the republic to express their real choice, it will recognize the President and Congress thus chosen as the legitimate and constitutional government of the republic and will support them in the exercise of their functions and authority in every way it can. If it should not be satisfied that elections of the right kind have been held, let it be understood that another election will be held at which the mistakes observed will be corrected.

III. A regular and constitutional government having thus been set up, the Government of the United States would feel at liberty thereafter to insist that revolutionary movements cease and that all subsequent changes in the government of the republic be effected by the peaceful processes provided in the Haitian constitution. By no other course can the Government of the United States fulfill its tacitly conceded obligations as the nearest friend of Haiti in her relations with the rest of the world.