710.1012 Washington/24
The Chargé in Cuba (Curtis) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 3.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the Department’s instruction No. 125 of April 14, 1928,73 requesting the Embassy to ascertain from the Cuban Government whether the suggestions therein advanced by the Department in relation to the conference, which is to take place in Washington in conformity with the Resolution of February 18, 1928 on the subject of obligatory arbitration for the pacific settlement of international differences of a juridical nature, are acceptable to that Government. The matter was informally broached to the Secretary of State on April 25 who, after consultation [Page 624] on the subject, orally replied on the 28th that the date of December 10, 1928, suggested by the Department for the convening of the conference, is agreeable to the Cuban Government. The recommendation is likewise acceptable that not more than two delegates shall be named by each country.
As to the attitude of the Cuban Government towards the subject of arbitration and conciliation, when the recommendations of the Department were brought to his attention, Secretary Martinez Ortiz remarked that in principle he is favorable to arbitration provided local laws are adequately safe-guarded. Anything that can be done towards making war more unlikely is worthwhile in his opinion. He added, in effect, that Cuba would, as the Embassy knows, accord with the United States in such matters—not alone because it is its desire to adjust its foreign policy to that of the United States, but also because the United States sees so clearly with regard to subjects involving the preservation of peace, as, for example, is evidenced in the recent arbitration negotiations with France.
Perhaps more significant than the above remarks, since the neutral character of the audience imposes no necessity for polite phraseology, are the words which the Secretary of State will use in a discourse at the annual meeting of the Cuban Society of International Law to be held on May 7. In translation he will say on that occasion:
[“] We have purposely left for the end of this synthetic outline of the work of the Sixth Conference some of the resolutions adopted on matters of great difficulty which today have the attention of the entire world, and in regard to which up to the present time the nations have not been able to find a satisfactory solution. One is obligatory arbitration. The following was resolved:
(Here follows the text of the resolution on obligatory arbitration.)
There is nothing more transcendental than what has been mentioned, this having, nevertheless, been taken up in a high spirit of conciliation and of hope for reaching the desired goal. Let us hope that during the coming year and as a consequence of the resolution transcribed, a definite step forward may be taken toward universal peace, or at least peace among the most cultured nations of the world, and that it shall be our America which, for its own glory, shall achieve the final success in that which constitutes the coming hope of humanity.”
With regard to the Cuban attitude on the Gondra Treaty, as the Department observes, Cuba’s ratification of the Treaty would seem to speak for itself. Moreover, while the Secretary of State ventured no remarks relative to Cuba’s position on the Treaty, it is believed that his favorable observations concerning any agreement which leads to the preservation of amity between the nations may be interpreted as equally applicable to the Gondra Treaty.
I have [etc.]