As soon as he returns to Haiti Mr. Munro will at once resume negotiations
on the Haitianization plan.30 This plan is nearly completed and it is
understood will be as follows:
Mr. Munro will conclude the negotiations now nearly terminated regarding
the Public Works Department, it being understood, although he will not
so advise the Haitians immediately, that the Public Works Service will
be completely Haitianized not later than January 1, 1932. Mr. Munro will
be at liberty to turn over the whole Public Works Department to the
Haitians any time after his return to Haiti that he thinks
advisable.
Mr. Munro will work out at once the administrative details in order to
permit complete Haitianization of the Public Health Service with the
exception of the Public Health Services in the cities of Port au Prince
and Cape Haitien. This will mean an allocation by the Director of the
Public Health Service of the budget to show just how much is expended by
the two cities in question. This amount will be retained by him and the
balance turned over to the Haitian authorities.
The sanitation of the towns of Gonaїves and Cayes has not yet been
accomplished. Mr. Munro will therefore suggest to the Haitians that they
permit the completion of this work. If the Haitians wish that done, it
will be done; if not, the scheme above set forth will be followed.
The whole educational control will be immediately turned back to the
Haitians. As regards agriculture, Mr. Munro will insist that Mr. Colvin
be appointed as of July 1, last, giving the Haitians the understanding
that he will retire from the Service on January 1, 1932, and that he
will actually leave Haiti as much prior to that as he has leave of
absence with pay due him. Of course Mr. Colvin would leave Haiti at once
should the Haitians desire to pay him now in advance, say six months’
salary, in order to enable him to find employment up here. The other
agricultural engineers will also remain not later than January 1, 1932.
If, as Doctor Munro anticipates, the Haitian Government should desire
some of these engineers to remain longer to keep up the agricultural
work, especially until Haitian students in the United States can return
and take over the work, this would be arranged on the basis of private
contracts between these engineers and the Haitian Government. They would
therefore cease to be Treaty Officials.
The above Treaty Services depend on Article XIII of the Treaty of 1915
and are the result of an agreement between the two Governments. The two
Governments can therefore agree to suspend or abolish these Services.
The Financial Services are based on Articles II to IX inclusive, and are
a direct obligation on the part of Haiti as is the Constabulary,
established by Article X, by which Haiti obligated itself for the
creation of a Constabulary. These two Services therefore are in an
entirely different category from the three others and, furthermore,
third parties have interests based thereon, so that the Haitian
Government can not change these except as the United States agrees.
As there is no provision for a Constabulary after the Treaty expires on
May 3, 1936, an agreement has been drawn up by which the Constabulary
will be Haitianized by that time. Mr. Munro will stand on that basis and
will decline any quicker Haitianization. As a matter of fact, the
Haitianization drawn up by the Marine officers in chargé is somewhat
more rapid than the Forbes’ Commission suggested.
In the Financial Services the administration of the land registration
will be given up. In order to carry out the provisions of Article VIII
of the Protocol of 1919, a new Convention will be negotiated,
[Page 456]
negotiations to begin
immediately after the signing of the Haitianization program above
mentioned. This Convention, although signed immediately, will go into
effect on May 3, 1936, the date of the expiration of the Treaty of 1915,
and will remain in full force and effect so long as any of the bonds
issued under the Protocol of 1919 are outstanding. A draft of this
proposed Convention is attached hereto.
[Annex 1]
Draft Agreement Between the United States and
the Republic of Haiti
Preamble
The United States and the Republic of Haiti desiring to confirm and
strengthen the amity existing between them by the most cordial
cooperation in measures for their common advantage;
And the Republic of Haiti desiring to maintain uninterrupted
financial stability indispensable to the development of the welfare
of the Republic, and to carry out its contractual guarantees
provided for by obligations of its present authorized bonded
indebtedness;
And the United States being in full sympathy with all of these aims
and objects and desiring to contribute in all proper ways to their
accomplishment;
The United States and the Republic of Haiti have resolved to conclude
an agreement with these objects in view, and have appointed for that
purpose, Plenipotentiaries, etc.
Article I
The President of Haiti shall appoint, upon nomination by the
President of the United States, a Financial Adviser-General
Receiver, with such aides and employees as may be necessary, who
shall collect, receive and apply all customs duties on imports and
exports accruing at the several custom-houses and ports of entry of
the Republic of Haiti.
The Financial Adviser-General Receiver will supervise and control the
Bureau of Contributions in accordance with the organic law of June
6, 1924, establishing the Service called Administration Générale des
Contributions, and in accordance with such other laws and amendments
thereto as may be hereinafter agreed upon by the two Governments
parties hereto.
Article II
The Government of the Republic of Haiti will provide by law or
appropriate decrees for the payment of customs duties, internal
revenues, receipts, and miscellaneous receipts from all sources
whatsoever,
[Page 457]
to the
Financial Adviser-General Receiver, and will extend to the Financial
Adviser-General Receiver, all needful aid and full protection in the
execution of the powers conferred and the duties imposed herein; and
the United States on its part will extend like aid and
protection.
Article III
All sums collected and received by the Financial Adviser-General
Receiver shall be applied, first, to the interest and sinking fund
of the public debt of the Republic of Haiti; and, second, to the
payment of the salaries and allowances of the Financial
Adviser-General Receiver, his assistants and employees and expenses
of the financial service, including the expenses of the
Administration Générale des Contributions; and the remainder shall
then be available for the current expenses of the Haitian
Government, as referred to in Article X and Article XII of this
agreement.
In making these applications the Financial Adviser-General Receiver
will proceed to pay salaries and allowances monthly and expenses as
they arise, and at the end of each calendar month will set aside in
separate funds the reserves for interest and amortization and
operating allowances from the collections and receipts of the
previous month from the customs and from the internal revenues.
Article IV
The expenses of the Financial Adviser-General Receiver, including his
salary and allowances and those of his assistants and employees,
excepting, however, those of the Administration Générale des
Contributions, shall not exceed five per centum of the collections
and receipts from customs duties, unless by agreement of the two
Governments.
The expenses of the Direction Générale des Contributions, including
the salaries and allowances of the Director General, his assistants
and employees, shall not exceed fifteen per centum of the
collections and receipts from internal revenues, unless by agreement
by the two Governments.
Article V
The Financial Adviser-General Receiver shall maintain an adequate
system of public accounting and shall make monthly reports of all
collections, receipts and disbursements to the appropriate officer
of the Republic of Haiti, which reports shall be open to inspection
and verification at all times by the appropriate authorities.
Article VI
The Republic of Haiti shall not issue further series of the loan
issued under the provisions of the Protocol signed at Port-au-Prince
[Page 458]
on October 3, 1919, in
excess of $3,000,000.00 and to that extent only with the consent of
the President of the United States and no such series shall be
issued after 1940. Nor shall the Republic of Haiti otherwise
increase its public debt, except by previous agreement with the
President of the United States, and shall not contract any debt or
assume any financial obligation unless the ordinary revenues of the
Republic available for that purpose, after defraying the expenses of
the Government, shall be adequate to pay the interest and provide a
sinking fund for the final discharge of such debt.
Article VII
The Republic of Haiti will not without the previous accord of the
Financial Adviser-General Receiver, modify the customs duties nor
internal revenue taxes in a manner to reduce the revenues
therefrom.
Article VIII
The Government of Haiti agrees to enact annually an appropriation law
which will fix the amount of the appropriations for the ensuing
fiscal year, and agrees that the budget shall be prepared in the
following manner, which is in accordance with the present practice
under existing law and international agreements:
Budget of Ways and Means
The Financial Adviser-General Receiver shall prepare an estimate of
receipts in detail, which shall be considered to be the sum
receivable for the ensuing fiscal year. This sum shall not exceed
the total amount of the revenue received for the twelve calendar
months ending January 31 of the current year except when changes in
the revenue laws should make it desirable in his opinion to increase
or decrease the estimate.
The Financial Adviser-General Receiver shall forward the estimate of
receipts prepared as above to the Minister of Finance, to the end
that a law fixing the ways and means, establishing such taxes and
revenues for the ensuing year, shall be voted to insure the
collection of the sums agreed upon from the sources mentioned in the
estimates. The Law of Ways and Means shall conform to the provisions
of the law of the 16th of August, 1929, except in so far as any
change may be agreed upon hereafter, before enactment, by the
Minister of Finance and the Financial Adviser-General Receiver.
Budget of Expenditures
The Minister of Finance shall prepare annually the budget of
appropriations in the following manner, viz:
[Page 459]
Under Chapter I shall be included:—
- 1.
- Provision for service of the public debt setting out in
detail the various obligations, contractual commissions and
contractual expenses.
- 2.
- Provision for the service of the Financial Adviser-General
Receiver and for the Service of the Administration Générale
des Contributions.
- 3.
- Provision for reserves for currency, unless by agreement
with the Financial Adviser-General Receiver he shall
determine that the existing reserve is adequate, and such
other reserves as may be hereafter provided by law.
- 4.
- Provision for contractual obligations which will include
annual quotas for international institutions.
The sum total of Chapter 1 shall be subtracted from the sum total of
the estimates of revenue fixed by the Law of Ways and Means, which
shall have been arrived at as set out above.
The balance available thereafter will represent the amount expendable
for the various current expenses of the Haitian Government, and
shall include all non-capital operating expenses of the Government
for the ensuing fiscal year.
Each department shall be shown under a separate chapter heading and
each expenditure shall be shown in detail, setting out each position
and salary. Each appropriation for rent, office supplies, telegraph
and telephones, post, entertainment expenses, official bulletin,
expense of mission, of travel, and of replacement of employees in
foreign posts, or for any other purpose, shall be entered separately
with appropriate description.
The sum total of the budget so prepared shall not exceed the sum
total of the expendable balance arrived at in the manner set forth
above and it shall be the duty of the Financial Adviser-General
Receiver to examine the proposed budget to ascertain the correctness
of the estimates for the public debt and for the amounts specified
to be included in Chapter 1. Likewise he shall advise the Haitian
Government of the omission of any item which, in his opinion, should
have been included in said Budget.
The Financial Adviser shall give his accord to the budget so prepared
providing he has ascertained that all items with reference to the
public debt, contractual commissions and expenses of the service of
the Financial Adviser-General Receiver, service of the
Administration Générale des Contributions, reserves for currency,
provisions for international institutions and special contractual
obligations have been duly included in Chapter 1 in accordance with
the schedule of priorities provided in Article III, and in
accordance with the amounts specified by agreement between the two
Governments, in so far as the service of the Financial
Adviser-General Receiver and the Administration Générale des
Contributions are concerned; and when he shall have ascertained that
the total of the proposed budget does not exceed
[Page 460]
the total of available revenues in
accordance with the estimates of revenue which have been prepared as
herein provided.
Article IX
The Financial Adviser shall communicate such accord to the Haitian
Government in writing, through the Minister of Finance, and in case
his accord is not given, before the commencement of any fiscal year,
to the budget for that year, then the preceding budget shall
continue in operation for the next year, and thereafter until such
accord is given in accordance with the provisions hereof.
Article X
The expenditures for each fiscal year shall be made in conformity
with the provisions of the Law of Expenditure, as enacted for the
fiscal year 1929–30, which shall be enacted annually in accordance
with constitutional provisions and which shall have the same form as
the Law of Expenditure for 1929–30 except for the following
amendments:
The assent of the Financial Adviser-General Receiver shall not be
required in respect of the provisions of Article 8 of said law.
In case the Financial Adviser-General Receiver during the course of
any fiscal year shall find that the revenues of that year will be
below those estimated and budgeted, he shall notify the Minister of
Finance of the amount of such deficiency, and the balance available
for the current expenses of the Haitian Government for the remainder
of that fiscal year shall be reduced accordingly, provided however
that the Financial Adviser-General Receiver in accord with the
Minister of Finance may determine that all or part of any such
deficiency shall be met from reserves.
Article XI
The Law of Ways and Means and the Law of Expenditure shall be
prorogued by implication unless specifically reenacted in accordance
with the provisions of this agreement.
Further amendments to the Law of Expenditure may be made with the
accord of the Financial Adviser-General Receiver and shall be valid
only if they receive such accord.
Article XII
Until the retirement of all of the bonds issued under the provisions
of the Protocol signed at Port au Prince on October 3, 1919, no
appropriations in excess of the amount set forth in the budget
approved by the Financial Adviser-General Receiver shall become
effective or constitute a chargé upon the Treasury unless such
appropriations
[Page 461]
have
received the accord of the Financial Adviser-General Receiver.
Article XIII
This agreement shall remain in full force and effect from May 3,
1936, until the complete retirement of the bonds issued or to be
issued under the provisions of the Protocol signed at Port au Prince
on October 3, 1919, and upon the payment or retirement of all bonds
which may have been issued by virtue thereof, it shall become null
and void and of no effect.
