File No. 838.51/445.
[Untitled]
Washington, December 17, 1915—6 p.m.
Your December 11, 3 p.m. First conference with commissioners held today who were informed that their Government desired immediate advance of $500,000 to be available by December 20.
Inasmuch as such an advance on account of the loan of $2,000,000 which commissioners desired to obtain by end of year and which they have full powers to negotiate is impossible until loan contract is signed, the Department believed that National Bank of Haiti was only source from which an unsecured advance could be obtained and [Page 534] therefore arranged for representatives of Bank to appear before Commission.
Bankers were asked by commissioners if they were prepared immediately to advance $500,000 from redemption fund, which they refused to advance from this source but express a willingness to consider immediate advance provided the Bank were reinstated in its contract. This was not acceptable to commissioners, who may communicate with their Government.