838.51/1944
The French Chargé ( Sartiges ) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: I did not fail to forward to my Government the substance of the letter which Your Excellency kindly sent me on July 31 last concerning the difference between the Haitian Government and the Parisian Bank concerning the service of the 5 percent gold loan of 1910.
[Page 433]In reply to that letter my Government can only adhere to its former statements, namely, that the Federal Government confuses the question of merit with that of jurisdiction. It does not appear, indeed, for the present, that the question be whether, as the Federal Government seems to admit, the Haitian Government is in the right when it refuses to effect the service of its loan in gold, but merely to point to the judicial authority that will be called upon to say what that right is. The contract of issue clearly states that an arbitration shall decide any dispute that may arise in connection with the execution of thei contract. The dispute exists as a matter of fact and this is acknowledged in Your Excellency’s above-mentioned letter, and the French Bank is, in the opinion of my Government, fully warranted in demanding that it be decided by arbitration.
However, taking into account the opinion to the contrary advanced by the Federal Government, my Government instructs me to propose to Your Excellency that the previous question as to whether under the loan contract there is really occasion for arbitration be referred to an arbitrator. Only if that arbitrator, who might be selected from among the jurists of the International Court of Justice, should answer that question in the affirmative, would there be occasion to refer the merits of the case to arbitration.
My Government trusts that the Federal Government will not refuse to agree to that proceeding.
Be pleased [etc.]