File No. 711.38/71
The Secretary of State to the Minister of Haiti
Washington, April 5, 1916.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 15th ultimo, by which you inform me that you have received the full power of the President of Haiti to effect the exchange of ratifications of the Convention of September 16, 1915, between the United States and Haiti, and that your Government had forwarded to you to that end the following papers:
- 1.
- The instrument of ratification of the convention by the President of Haiti.
- 2.
- A certified copy of the convention.
- 3.
- A certified copy of the decree of the Legislative Body of Haiti sanctioning the ratification of the convention by the President of Haiti; and
- 4.
- A copy of the interpretative commentary of the committee of the Chamber of Deputies referred to in the decree.
Through your courtesy these papers have been submitted to the Department for examination.
The President of Haiti’s instrument of ratification of the convention declared that the treaty is approved, ratified and confirmed by the President of Haiti, who promises to cause it to be executed and observed according to its form and tenor without permitting any contravention thereof. The instrument is in conformity with the ratifications by former Presidents of Haiti of previous treaties between the United States and Haiti and is acceptable.
Inasmuch, however, as it would seem as if your Government considered the sanctioning decree of the Legislative Body of Haiti and [Page 326] the interpretative commentary of the committee of the Chamber of Deputies referred to in the decree as part of the exchange of ratifications, I feel it incumbent upon me to point out, without discussing whether the interpretation placed by the commentary on the articles of the treaty mentioned therein would or would not be acceptable to this Government, that, as this paper was not before the United States Senate at the time it gave its advice and consent to the ratification of the treaty by the President, it is impossible to consider the views expressed therein as having any binding force on the Government of the United States. In this connection permit me to point out also that the interpretation of treaties is a matter of consent between the contracting parties and that if an interpretation be placed by one party to a treaty on any of its stipulations at a time before a case arises for the application of the stipulation, the other party must be consulted and its consent obtained before it can be considered bound in any manner whatsoever by such interpretation.
The Government of the United States therefore cannot consent to consider the interpretation placed upon Articles I, II, III, VI, IX, XIII and XVI of the treaty by the interpretative commentary as in any way binding upon it. It must insist that the treaty shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the clear language of its English text in conformity with the understanding reached by the two Governments in the notes exchanged at Port au Prince and dated September 16 and 20, 1915,6 respectively.
With this understanding, in which I have no doubt your Government will fully concur, I shall be glad to proceed to the exchange of ratifications and to arrange a convenient time for that purpose.
Accept [etc.]
- For. Rel. 1915, p. 454; inclosures 1 and 2 with despatch No. 49, dated October 25, 1915, from the American Legation at Port au Prince.↩