838.51/1569: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Haiti ( Dunn )

82. For General Russell.

Your June 28, 6 p.m. and July 12, 1 p.m.5 The Department concurs with your recommendation that the control of the internal revenues and the reorganization of the treaty officials connected with Haiti’s finances should be effected by an agreement between the two Governments. It appears doubtful whether the offices of Financial Adviser and General Receiver could be consolidated under the terms of the treaty, but there appears to be no objection to an agreement providing for the appointment of the same man to both positions, so long as the agreement preserves the identity of the two offices. Since the treaty does not contemplate the appointment of aids to the Financial Adviser it seems better to make all of the officials provided for by the new agreement aids to the General Receiver. These aids, like all other aids and employees of the General Receiver, must, under Article 2 of the treaty, be appointed by the President of Haiti upon nomination of the President of the United States. The Department desires, however, that the same procedure should be followed as in the case of other American officials serving in Haiti; namely, that the General Receiver, through you, should request the nomination of certain individuals as aids, in order that the Department may recommend such nominations to the President.

The Department authorizes you to enter into an agreement with the Haitian Government as outlined in your June 28, 6 p.m., with the following changes:

Preamble: Unchanged.

  • Article I. The offices of Financial Adviser and General Receiver of Customs as established by Article II of the Treaty of September 16, 1915, may henceforth be filled by the same person, if the President of the United States should nominate the same person for appointment by the President of Haiti to both positions.
  • Article II. The following officials shall be appointed by the President of Haiti upon nomination by the President of the United States as aids to the General Receiver: (1) The Auditor; (2) The Collector of Internal Revenue; (3) The Collector of Customs; (4) [Page 390] The Chief Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue. They will take precedence in the order named.
  • Article III. Unchanged, except that expression “Financial Adviser and General Receiver” should be changed in each case to “General Receiver”, except where reference is made to revision of rulings of Auditor, where it should read “Financial Adviser or The General Receiver”, and that “the internal revenue law of 1923” should be changed to “internal revenue laws”.
  • Article IV. Unchanged.
  • Article V. In the event that the same person is appointed to occupy the positions of Financial Adviser and General Receiver he shall receive the following salary and allowances: salary $6,000 United States currency per annum; allowances $4,000 United States currency per annum.
  • If different persons should be appointed to occupy the positions of Financial Adviser and General Receiver they shall receive the following salaries and allowances: Financial Adviser, salary $6,000 United States currency per annum; allowances $4,000 United States currency per annum. General Receiver, salary $5,500 United States currency per annum; allowances $3,500 United States currency per annum. Rest of article from second paragraph on unchanged.
  • Article VI. Unchanged.
  • Article VII. The aids and employees in the office of the Auditor, and of the Collector of Internal Revenue, shall be appointed, like other aids and employees of the General Receiver, by the President of Haiti upon nomination by the President of the United States.
  • Article VIII. As suggested in your July 12, 1 p.m.6
  • Article IX. This agreement supersedes the agreement of June 27, 1916,7 regarding the salaries and expenses of the officials appointed in accordance with Article II of the treaty.

It is desired also that you should draft an additional article to be inserted after Article VI to make provision for the disbursement by the General Receiver of funds placed at disposition of Haitian Government under Article V of the treaty, and of extraordinary receipts, such as the proceeds of loans; and to make clear his obligation, either in his capacity as General Receiver or as Financial Adviser, to refuse payment of items not authorized by law. This is necessary because the treaty makes no provision for disbursement of extraordinary receipts by Receiver General. The additional article, which must of course be in accord with Article V of the treaty, should be transmitted to the Department by telegraph for its consideration.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Department desires that you should forward a copy of the proposed internal revenue law as soon as possible.

Hughes
  1. Not printed; see footnote 6, infra.
  2. Not printed. The High Commissioner suggested an article embodying the first four lines of art. IX of the treaty of 1915, replacing the word “customs” by the words “internal revenue”.
  3. Foreign Relations, 1916, p. 332.