Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1920, Volume I
738.3915/218
The Minister in the Dominican Republic ( Russell ) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received December 28.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith the following documents in regard to the settlement of the Dominican-Haitian boundary question:—
Copy of the final project of the protocol.
Copy of the note from the Foreign Office of the Dominican Government in transmitting the above to the Haitian Minister.56
I have [etc.]
Draft Protocol of Agreement between the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti
Protocol of conferences for the treaty of arbitration agreed upon between the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti, in accordance with the text of note no. 363, of December 22, 1919, addressed by the Department of State of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic to the Government of Haiti, through its Minister in this city, Mr. Felix Magloire.
In the City of Santo Domingo, this day of the month of of the year nineteen hundred and twenty, the undersigned,
Mr. A. T. Marix, Colonel, U.S.M.C., Officer in Charge of the Administration of the Department of State of Foreign Relations for the Military Government of the Dominican Republic, and
Mr. Felix Magloire, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Haiti in Santo Domingo,
Plenipotentiaries respectively appointed by their Governments for the conclusion of a convention of arbitration between the two Republics for the purpose of giving a proper interpretation to article 4 of the Dominican-Haitian treaty of the year 1874, and of settling definitely all questions of boundaries pending between the two countries, met at the office of the Department of State of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic and upon exchanging their respective powers, and having found them in due and proper form, have conferred as to the most advisable manner of proceeding to the conclusion of the treaty as suggested by the Dominican Republic.
[Page 309]Mr. A. T. Marix, Colonel, U.S.M.C., as the officer in Charge of the Administration of the Department of State of Foreign Relations of the Dominican Republic, has proposed to Mr. Felix Magloire, as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Haiti, the following:
Project
treaty of arbitration between the dominican republic and the republic of haiti
Thomas Snowden, Rear Admiral, United States Navy, Military Governor of Santo Domingo, for the Dominican Republic, and
Sudre Dartiguenave, President of the Republic of Haiti;
In view of the plebiscite of June 1 and 2, 1895, and of the Resolution of the National Congress of the Dominican Republic dated June 1 [18?], 1895, authorizing the Government of the Dominican Republic to submit to the arbitration of the Supreme Pontiff the Dominican-Haitian difference caused by the different interpretations of article 4 of the treaty of 1874;
In view of the negative result obtained from the negotiations carried on with His Holiness in the years 1896 and 1897;
In view of the fact that it is an urgent necessity for the two peoples that share the territory of the Island to come to a definite agreement as to the limits of their respective possessions, and to finally establish the line of demarcation of their territories, in order that all such controversies as arise between the two nations for this reason may cease forever;
Have resolved by mutual agreement:
- (a)
- To submit again to arbitration the difficulties in question with the purpose of concluding a convention to that effect;
- (b)
- To empower as plenipotentiaries for that purpose:
- The Head of the Government of the Dominican Republic: Mr. A. T. Marix, Colonel, U. S. M. C, in Chargé of the Administration of the Department of Foreign Relations;
- The President of the Republic of Haiti: Mr. Felix Magloire, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Haiti in Santo Domingo;
Who, having exchanged their full powers and found them in due and proper form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles:
Article 1.—The difference which has arisen between the Government of the Dominican Republic and that of the Republic of Haiti on account of the interpretation of article 4 of the treaty of 1874, as well as all other difficulties which have kept the boundary question from coming to a solution, shall be submitted to the arbitration [Page 310] of His Holiness the Pope Benedict XV, from whose fatherly kindness a decision shall be requested which may bring to an end all the discussions and difficulties pending between the two sister Republics and establish definitely the boundary between the possessions of the two nations.
Article 2.—Both the Government of the Dominican Republic and that of the Republic of Haiti shall address the Holy Father separately within the term of days from the ratification of this convention, requesting a decision of arbitration for the settlement in the manner herein prescribed of the question of the boundary between the two countries.
§ It is understood that the arbitrator in accepting the commission entrusted to him shall give his award between the period of one hundred and eighty days from the date on which both parties have submitted to him their respective statements.
Article 3.—Each one of the High Contracting Parties shall designate special agent or agents whose duty it shall be to furnish such notes and explanations as may be necessary for the examination of the difficulties pending.
Article 4.—The statement of each of the two parties, accompanied by such documents as may be necessary, shall be forwarded in duplicate to the Holy Father, and to the agent or agents of the other party after the Holy Father has stated that he agrees to be the judge of arbitration, but with a delay of not less than months from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty.
Article 5.—During the term of months after the exchange of statements, each party may, in the same manner, submit in duplicate to the Holy Father and to the agent or agents of the other party a rebuttal and, if necessary, additional documents, in reply to the statement and documents presented by the other party.
Article 6.—The decision rendered in writing, in duplicate, dated and signed, as the Holy Father shall be requested to make it, shall be forwarded to the agent or agents of each party for their respective Governments.
Article 7.—Each Government shall pay its own agents and the expenses of preparation and presentation of its case before the court of arbitration. All other possible expenses relative to the arbitration shall be defrayed equally, one half each by the two Governments.
Article 8.—The High Contracting Parties do hereby solemnly agree to consider the result of the arbitration as the complete and definite solution of all difficulties arising from the boundary question and from the interpretation of article 4 of the treaty of 1874.
Article 9.—If the question is decided in favor of the Haitian Nation, the Dominican Republic consents to draw the definite boundary [Page 311] in accordance with the decision of the Pope. But if the case is decided in favor of the Dominican Republic, the latter shall consent to draw the boundary line in accordance with the decision of the Pope, and the expenses shall in this case be defrayed by the Republic of Haiti. The eventual demarcation of the boundary line, as decided by His Holiness the Pope, is to be included in the general survey work now being conducted in Santo Domingo and Haiti by the geological surveyors.
Article 10.—If the decision of the arbiter cedes to the Dominican Republic territory which Haiti claimed and which it states that it has occupied and peopled, the Dominican Republic consents to cede such territory to Haiti, if the arbiter decides that such territory has always been peopled and occupied by the Haitian people and on the payment by the Haitian Government of a compensation which shall be determined by the Pope in his arbitral decision.
Article 11.—The present treaty shall be submitted to the approval and sanction of the respective competent authorities, and the ratifications shall be exchanged within the term of months from this date, or before the expiration of that term, if possible.
In witness whereof the plenipotentiaries of the Contracting Parties have signed this convention and have hereunto affixed their seals.
Made in two originals in the French and Spanish languages, in this city of Santo Domingo this day of the year nineteen hundred and twenty.
Colonel, U.S.M.C., in Charge of the Department of State of Foreign Affairs
__________
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Haiti in Santo Domingo