837.51/780: Telegram
The Representative on Special Mission in Cuba (Crowder) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:22 p.m.]
29. Captain Castillo, with whom the Secretary will confer Monday, has been for several months liaison officer between the President of Cuba and my Special Mission and is confidentially informed as to the more important correspondence that has passed between us. I [Page 1028] suggest that the discussion with him center upon the following points:
- First, that Zayas has not even yet adopted that aggressive attitude toward the carrying out of the more important reforms recommended in my memoranda numbers 6, 7, 8, and 10 necessary to assure a satisfactory measure of success.
- Second, that even assuming that the Congress enacts a $55,000,000 budget and the necessary tax laws before the end of the custom fiscal year and stops there, it will be many months before a surplus can be accumulated by this method alone which will afford any substantial relief to creditors.
- Third, it necessarily follows, unless a large foreign loan is negotiated, that default in the payment of (a) the large floating debt including deficit for the current fiscal year, (b) the service of the interior bonded debt and (c) the most urgent services of the state will continue well into the next fiscal year; with the result,
- Fourth, that large number of creditors who will not be able for prolonged periods to obtain even partial payment of amounts due, will be forced into bankruptcy and that public discontent, particularly among the business element, which already has reached the embarrassing point, will develop very rapidly.
- Fifth, that last November a movement was inaugurated, to which I attached at that time little importance for the reason that it was led largely by politicians, to demand the resignation of President Zayas and Vice President Carillo with a view to the assumption of the duties of the President temporarily by the Secretary of State Montoro, under Article 8 of the law of the Executive power, and the selection of a new President by the Congress of Cuba in the form and manner provided in Article 9 of the said law; and that in the last few days there has been a revival of this agitation.
That of course no such movement can succeed nor do I believe it will be seriously attempted as long as the Department maintains a special mission here and Zayas is cooperating with that mission in bringing about vitally necessary reforms.
That nevertheless I think the fact of such agitation sufficiently important to suggest to the Department the advisability of admonition to be sent to President Zayas through Céspedes as recommended in the concluding portion of my despatch of May 15;36 also that the general situation here presented be discussed with Captain Castillo at the forthcoming conference.