Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1920, Volume II
438.00/111
The Acting Secretary of State to the French Chargé (Béarn)
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a memorandum replying to your note of August 30, last,74 which conveyed instructions received [Page 830] from the French Government regarding the appointment of the Claims Commission provided for in the Protocol signed between the American and Haitian Governments on October 3, 1919.
Accept [etc.]
The Department of State to the French Embassy
Memorandum
Receipt is acknowledged of the note of the French Embassy of August 30, stating that the French Legation in Haiti has been notified by the Financial Adviser to the Haitian Government that the Claims Commission provided for by Article II of the Protocol signed October 3, 1919, between the American and Haitian Governments, would meet in the near future and that pending claims against the Haitian Government would be referred to it. The Embassy further states that it has received instructions from the French Government, notwithstanding its set purpose not to hamper in any way the action of this Government in Haiti, to request that the Financial Adviser to the Haitian Government be instructed by the Government of the United States to defer until further notice the meeting of the Claims Commission, on the following grounds.
The French Embassy refers to the protocol of arbitration for the settlement of French claims which the French Government signed with the Haitian Government on September 10, 1913, providing that all claims against the Haitian Government entered by French citizens should be settled by an arbitral tribunal consisting of three members—one selected by the Haitian Government, one by the French Government, and the third designated by common accord of the first two members. The Embassy refers likewise, to the note addressed on November 16, 1915, by the Secretary of State to the French Ambassador,74 in which was contained the following statement: “Nothing will be neglected to reach a settlement as soon as possible by either amicable or arbitral procedure of all pending pecuniary foreign claims, including those based on facts anterior in date to the putting into effect of the pending Treaty.”
The French Embassy adds that it appears to the French Government from that statement that the Government of the United States made an engagement with the French Government to seek a settlement of the French claims by either amicable or arbitral procedure and that the mode of settlement devised by the Financial Adviser to the Haitian Government of pending claims against the Haitian Government is not consistent with either an amicable settlement of [Page 831] French claims or the arbitral procedure provided by the Franco-Haitian Convention of 1913, and the statement of the Secretary of State above quoted. The Embassy also states that the Claims Commission instituted by Article II of the Protocol of October 3, 1919, between the United States and Haiti is, in the opinion of the French Government, merely an extraordinary tribunal, the judges of which are appointed by the American and Haitian Governments, but not by the parties concerned, and that the Claims Commission should therefore not be regarded as an arbitral tribunal.
The Embassy declares that the French Government is, as before, willing to listen to and consider any suggestion that may be offered by this Government, leading to an amicable settlement of the claims, but that if a direct agreement does not appear to be feasible, the French Government asks that French claims pending against the Haitian Government be examined and passed upon by an arbitral tribunal in accordance with the procedure defined in the Franco–Haitian Convention of 1913, and in accordance with the assurance of the Secretary of State above quoted, and the Embassy suggests that the arbitral tribunal might consist of an American or Haitian appointed by this Government, a Frenchman appointed by the French Government and an umpire of some other nationality chosen by mutual agreement of the first two.
The Government of the United States desires to bring to the attention of the French Government the following facts: The French Government is doubtless aware that Article XII of the Treaty between the United States and Haiti, signed September 16, 1915, provides for the execution by the Haitian Government with the United States of a protocol for the settlement by arbitration or otherwise of all pending pecuniary claims of foreign corporations, companies, citizens, or subjects, against Haiti. In accordance with the provisions of that Article, the Protocol of October 3, 1919, referred to by the French Embassy was signed by the Governments of the United States and Haiti and provided for the establishment of a Claims Commission to settle the pending pecuniary claims against the Haitian Government as detailed in Article XII of the Treaty of September 16, 1915. Provision was made in Article II of that Protocol for the constitution of a Claims Commission composed of three members—one member to be nominated by the Secretary of State of the United States, one member to be nominated by the Minister of Finance of Haiti, and the third member, to be neither a citizen of Haiti nor of the United States, to be nominated by the Financial Adviser to the Haitian Government, all three members so nominated to be appointed by the Government of Haiti. While this Government is unable to admit that the mode of settlement [Page 832] of pending pecuniary claims against the Haitian Government provided for in this Protocol is not consistent with an amicable settlement of the French claims, the Government of the United States appreciates the justice of the contention of the French Government that the tribunal established to pass upon the claims of French citizens should be so constituted as to include among its members a member nominated by the French Government.
In accordance, therefore, with the assurances conveyed by the French Embassy that the French Government is willing to consider any suggestion that may be offered by the Government of the United States, leading to an amicable settlement of the claims, the Government of the United States, animated by its desire to meet, so far as possible, the wishes of the French Government, is willing to make the following suggestions:
That the Claims Commission established by virtue of the Protocol between the United States and Haiti of October 3, 1919, be composed as provided in that Protocol, of one member to be nominated by the Minister of Finance of Haiti, one member to be nominated by the Secretary of State of the United States, and the third member, during the period in which the claims of French citizens are being considered, to be designated by the French Government and nominated by the Financial Adviser to the Haitian Government, and all three members so nominated to be appointed by the Government of Haiti:
That the French Government signify its willingness to have all French claims, whether already passed upon by other commissions or not, reviewed by the Claims Commission constituted as above indicated and that this Commission may make such final awards as may seem to that Commission just and equitable:
That if after examination the French Government considers that any claim has not received satisfactory settlement, the French Government will retain the right to present such claims through the diplomatic channel, or to have such claims finally passed upon by an arbitral tribunal composed as provided in the Protocol signed September 10, 1913, between the French Government and the Government of Haiti.
In the opinion of the Government of the United States, the presence on the Claims Commission of a member nominated by the French Government should remove any objections which the French Government has heretofore held regarding the submission of French claims to this tribunal, and it is believed that this mode of procedure will constitute in the most satisfactory manner that method of amicable settlement of those claims indicated in the note of November 16, 1915, addressed by the Secretary of State to the French Ambassador.
[Page 833]In view of the earnest desire of this Government that the Claims Commission in Haiti may be constituted and may proceed to function at the earliest possible opportunity, the Government of the United States trusts that an early acceptance of the suggestions of this Government, as above stated, may be received, since it is believed that the method of settlement of the French claims above suggested must prove entirely satisfactory to the French Government.