838.51/1076
The French Ambassador (Jusserand) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: By a note of January 17 last, Your Excellency requested me to ask the French Government to inquire into the causes of the delay, November last, in the payment of the coupon of the Haitian loan, as the Financial Adviser of the Haitian Government had, as early as October, instructed the agency of the Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co. at Paris to transfer about [1,]600,000 francs to the Banque de l’Union Parisienne to meet that payment.
It appears from the inquiry that was immediately instituted that the Banque de l’Union Parisienne, which had charge of the service of that loan, conformed strictly to the instructions received by it from the Financial Adviser of the Haitian Government.
By a letter dated October 18, 1920, which arrived at Paris on November 5, Mr. McIlhenny asked the Banque de l’Union Parisienne not to begin payment of the Haitian coupon of 1910 until it had [Page 210] received the express authority from Mr. Maumus, Collector General of Customs at Port au Prince. That authority did not reach the bank until November 23, so the coupons could not be paid until the 24th of November.
In order to avoid further incidents of this nature, there should be, in the opinion of my Government, which no doubt Your Excellency will share, the highest interest in having the payment of the coupons of Haitian loans made hereafter on the dates set by the contracts, or at the very least that the financial institutions in charge of the service be authorized to give notice of the time when these coupons will be paid.
Be pleased [etc.]
- File translation revised.↩