839.00/2592: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Commissioner in the Dominican Republic (Welles)
5. Your 17, September 12, 9 a.m.
Department approves of the substitute provision provided last clause “the determination of such cases, should the two Governments disagree, to be effected by arbitration” shall be modified to read as follows
“the determination of such cases in which the interests of the United States and the Dominican Republic only are concerned shall, should the two Governments disagree, be effected by arbitration. In each individual case the high contracting parties, before appealing to arbitration, shall conclude a special agreement defining clearly the matter in dispute, the scope of the porters of the arbitrators, and the periods to be fixed for the formation of the Arbitral Tribunal and the several stages of the procedure. It is understood that on the part of the United States such special agreements will be made by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and on the part of the Dominican Republic shall be subject to the procedure required by the Constitution and laws thereof.”
These changes are deemed necessary for the following reasons:
- 1.
- Not unnaturally foreign governments look to the United States for the protection of their interests in the Dominican Republic and the draft convention of June 30, was designed to protect the rights of all persons acquired under the Military Government. However, the United States cannot, of course, attempt to bind other nations to an agreement for arbitration, and it should, therefore, be clearly stated that the provision on this point applies only to the United States.
- 2.
- The stipulation regarding the submission of each individual case to the Senate is in order to facilitate favorable action upon the agreement by that body. It has been the experience of the Department in recent years that arbitration conventions without such stipulation have met with opposition in the Senate, and the Department desires to avoid the situation which would arise should the Island be evacuated and the Treaty then confront obstacles in the United States Senate.