File No. 838.77/132
The French Ambassador to the Secretary of State
Washington, May 8, 1916.
Mr. Secretary of State: The attention of the Government of the Republic has been drawn to the predicament of the French bondholders of the Railway Company of Haiti who have not cashed their coupons since August 1914 although their payment is guaranteed by the Haitian Government.
The Minister of France at Port au Prince repeatedly called upon the Haitian Government to provide, in fulfilment of its pledges, the funds required for the payment to our fellow countrymen of their overdue coupons, and the last reply of the Haitian Minister of Foreign Relations was that the Government of the United States and the Haitian Commission sent to Washington were now exchanging views over the difficulties that had sprung up between the company and the Haitian Government.
Taking for granted that a settlement of this question has been actually considered by the Haitian delegates in accord with the Federal Administration, my Government wishes me to apply to your excellency with a view to obtaining at the earliest possible date the payment of the aforesaid outstanding coupons of securities which represent a French capital amounting to about thirteen million francs.
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