123 J 881/8
The Ambassador in Cuba (Judah) to
the Secretary of State
Habana, December 23,
1927.
[Received January 3, 1928.]
No. 1
Sir: I have the honor to confirm the Embassy’s
telegram No. 126, December 21, 11 A.M.,9 informing you that I arrived in Habana on the
morning of December 21st, and my telegram No. 128, December 23, 12
M.,9 informing you
that I presented my Letter of Credence to the President of the Cuban
Republic this morning.
In response to a request made to the Cuban Secretary of State immediately
after my arrival, Doctor Martinez Ortiz expressed his willingness to
receive me at eleven o’clock the same morning. Accordingly I then called
upon him and handed to him the office copies of the Letter of Recall of
my predecessor, General Enoch H. Crowder, and of my Letter of Credence.
At the same time I handed him a copy of the remarks which I proposed to
make upon my presentation to the President, with whom I requested an
audience for the purpose of presenting the Letter of Recall of my
predecessor and my own Letter of Credence.
This morning, in accordance with arrangements previously made, Señor
Herrera, Chief of the Despatch of the President’s office, accompanied by
Captain Julio Morales Coello, the President’s Aide, and Mr. Cayetano
Quesada acting as Introducer of Ambassadors, called at my hotel where I
was awaiting them with the official staff of the Embassy and I was
driven with full honors to the Presidential Palace.
[Page 517]
When I had made the speech which I had prepared (a copy of which is
transmitted herewith as Enclosure No. 1), and the President had read his
reply (a copy and translation of which is transmitted herewith as
Enclosures Nos. 2 and 3), I was presented to the members of the Cabinet
and other high officials who were present and then had a long and most
pleasant informal conversation with President Machado. I was received
and treated with warm cordiality by the President.
I call to your attention the next to the last paragraph of President
Machado’s speech. The Cuban morning English language newspaper, The Havana Post, commented upon this paragraph as
being something unusual in the speeches ordinarily made at the
presentation of Letters of Credence and as presaging further formal
action by the Cuban Government in regard to a revision of the
Reciprocity Treaty. However, none of the Spanish language newspapers
commented upon it.
Upon my taking leave, I was escorted back to my hotel with all due
ceremony.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure 1]
Remarks of the Ambassador in Cuba (Judah) on the Occasion of
His Reception by President Machado, December 23,
1927
Mr. President: I have the honor of handing
to Your Excellency the Letter of Recall of my distinguished
predecessor, General Enoch H. Crowder, who was prevented from
presenting it in person by reason of his absence from your country
at the expiration of his term.
I have also the honor of presenting to Your Excellency my Letter of
Credence as Ambassador of the United States of America to Cuba. In
presenting my credentials, I do so with the hope that I may be of
assistance in maintaining the close and cordial relations that have
always existed between these two great sister Republics of North
America. To be appointed as the representative of my government at
the Capital of Your Excellency’s government I consider a high
privilege and a distinguished honor.
The interests of both Republics are the same, the same economic and
political factors make for prosperity and happiness in both
countries, each country is dependent upon the other. During the
existence of these two sovereign nations no serious question has
arisen between them which has not been amicably settled with mutual
understanding and respect.
That this condition may always endure is the wish of the people of
the United States of America. That, as their Ambassador, my actions
may contribute to this happy result is my earnest desire.
[Page 518]
[Enclosure
2—Translation]
President Machado’s Reply to the Remarks of the Ambassador
in Cuba (Judah) on the Occasion of His
Reception, December 23, 1927
Mr. Ambassador: I have the honor to receive
from the hands of Your Excellency the Autograph Letters which
accredit you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the
United States in Cuba, as well as those of Recall of your
illustrious predecessor, General Enoch H. Crowder, of whom we shall
keep a memorable remembrance for his constant and sincere efforts to
maintain that cordiality which is the basis of the present relations
between our respective governments and peoples.
You will not need, Sir, many days to perceive that the decisive
assistance of your great country, assisting the tenacious and
vigorous action of our liberators in those anxious hours of 1898,
has remained imperishably engraved in the heart of the Cubans.
A high spirit of gratitude and a similar conception of human ideals
caused us to join your noble nation in the great European conflict
in which Your Excellency took an active and honorable part.
Many and close economic interests have always united us and we have
shown to the World that its peoples can find in a policy of
generosity and of mutual confidence the pacific result of collective
happiness.
Perhaps present circumstances may render advisable a careful
revision, for mutual benefits, of our mercantile relations, in
accordance with the experience of about twenty-five years, as with
interests so intimately connected we must try to make them more
ample and harmonious since, as Your Excellency says, those factors
work for the prosperity and felicity of both peoples.
I hope, Mr. Ambassador, that at all times you will find pleasant and
easy the honorable mission which has been confided to you by the
great sister Republic for whose future, as well as that of its
illustrious President, I have the most sincere good wishes.
