838.51/1908
The French Chargé (Sartiges) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: I did not fail to forward to my Government the note which Your Excellency was pleased to send to Mr. Bérenger on March 26, last, with respect to the Haitian 5 percent gold loan of 1910.
In reply to the communication which I had sent in that connection, my Government wishes me to renew to Your Excellency the following arguments in respect to the objections made by you.
While it is true on the one hand that the issuing contract was made between the Haitian Government and a group of four banks, the fact remains that under Article 3246 the other three banks gave to the Union Parisienne full power to take alone every measure needful for the execution of the contract. This is an actual power of attorney which now makes it possible for the French bank to act alone.
On the other hand, Your Excellency maintains that in the opinion of the State Department the position taken by the Haitian Government in that the loan is payable at the current rate in franc and not in gold is, under the present circumstances, correct. My Government is inclined to think that that argument confounds the merits and the jurisdiction in the case. The question of the currency for the payment is a question of merits. Even if the bank’s standpoint in this respect is groundless, that standpoint being in conflict with that of [Page 432] the Haitian Government creates a difference concerning the execution of the contract which, under Article 30, must be referred to arbitrators. In any event, if the Haitian Government believes that this is not a case for arbitration, it will be at liberty so to maintain to the arbitrators who will decide on the strength of Article 30.
Under those conditions, my Government can only continue upholding the justice of the demand for arbitration presented by the Bank of the Union Parisienne.
Be pleased [etc.]
- Of the loan contract; text printed in Le Moniteur, Oct. 26, 1910, p. 608.↩