File No. 838.516/40.
The Secretary of State to Minister Blanchard.
Washington, December 30, 1914.
Following telegram received from Wehrhane with request that it be forwarded through you and that you also make known verbally its contents to the Haitian Minister of Finance:
Davilmar Theodore,
President of Haiti,
Port au
Prince.
On behalf of the Paris and New York Committees of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti, we wish to suggest that the present financial embarrassment of your Government, which we regret as much as you, may be happily settled with small delay if you will delegate Dr. Hereaux, your Minister of Finance, for whom we entertain great respect, with such colleagues as you may select, to immediately proceed to New York for the purpose of discussing with the representatives here of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti means whereby the present financial difficulties of your country may be adjusted with the result of putting your Government in immediate possession of sufficient funds to take care of its imperative requirements and possibly arrange a new budgetary convention. Because of the present interrupted cable and mail [Page 380] communications we feel it is impossible to satisfactorily carry on any negotiations except in the form suggested; that is, a personal visit of the Minister of Finance and associates to New York. We assure you that no delay will be admitted in our conference with your representatives and they will be able to quickly conclude a satisfactory arrangement and return to Port au Prince. If you favor this suggestion and no regular steamship will be leaving for some time, we will endeavor to provide suitable transportation for your envoys. We hope you will receive this suggestion in the same friendly spirit in which it is made as we are equally desirous with you of seeing Haiti’s usual prosperity restored.
Henry H. Wehrhane,
Vice President, National Bank of the Republic
of Haiti.