839.00/2591

The Commissioner in the Dominican Republic ( Welles ) to the Acting Secretary of State

No. 13

Sir: I have the honor to advise you that I have been able to effect an agreement between the members of the Dominican Commission and the Military Governor whereby instruction of Dominican officers and recruits will continue during the life of the Provisional Government under the sole jurisdiction of the Military Government. The agreement provides, in brief, that upon the installation of the Provisional Government, all American officers now holding commands in the Policia Nacional Dominicana will retire from that organization and will be supplanted by Dominican officers. Inasmuch as only about half of the number of commands required can be filled by Dominican officers who have had training under the Military Government, it will be necessary, upon the date of the installation of the Provisional Government, to fill the number of vacancies created by the retirement of American officers temporarily with Dominicans who have had military training and experience previous to the Intervention in 1916.39 A sufficient number of Dominican cadets can, however, receive training under American instructors during the life of the Provisional Government to make it possible, at the completion of that time, to officer the Policia Nacional Dominicana entirely with Dominican officers who have received training under American instructors, and upon the inauguration of the Constitutional Government, the officers provisionally employed during the Provisional Government will be retired and their places taken by the officers who have completed their instruction under American auspices.

Inasmuch as I believed it to be of very great importance that the Dominican officer who would be Commander-in-Chief of the Policia [Page 47] Nacional Dominicana upon the installation of the Provisional Government should have a thorough knowledge of the organization of the Police, its distribution, personnel, etc., I suggested to the members of the Commission that they select a Dominican officer without delay in order that the Military Governor might give him every facility for obtaining the necessary knowledge of the organization of the Policia Nacional Dominicana prior to the date of the installation of the Provisional Government. The members of the Commission accepted my suggestion and named General Buenaventura Cabral, present Governor of the Province of Azua. General Cabral has already come to the Capital and will be given every facility by the Military Government in order that he may acquire the necessary knowledge of the organization of the National Police forces. In order that he may have practical experience, before the Provisional Government is installed, he will probably be named Commander-in-Chief of the Policia Nacional Dominicana by the Military Governor when the Department’s program is published. The appointment of General Cabral is, in my opinion, an excellent one, and since he has never been an active politician, and is not now affiliated with any political party, political influence will probably not be felt in the Policia Nacional Dominicana during the life of the Provisional Government.

The training camps where Dominican officers and recruits will receive their instruction under American supervision during the period of the Provisional Government, will be located in Santo Domingo City and in Santiago de los Caballeros.

I have [etc.]

Sumner Welles