838.61/210: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Haiti (Munro)
34. Your 44, May 26, 11 a.m., and 46, May 29, 10 a.m. You may advise the Minister for Foreign Affairs that this Government is willing to acquiesce in the arrangement proposed by him whereunder [Page 475] Mr. Colvin will resign his position as Assistant Director General of the Service Technique, in return for which the Haitian Government will pay to him as an indemnity the difference between his salary as Assistant Director General and that as Director General from July 1, 1930, to the date of his departure. Should this arrangement be effected this Government would expect that although by mutual consent Mr. Colvin might depart sooner, or immediately, as an act of justice to him his resignation be made effective as of January 1, 1932, and that he be furnished at the time he receives the additional compensation specified a letter or copy of a public statement by the Haitian Government expressing appreciation of his technical services. This you may explain will offset to some extent the injury done Mr. Colvin’s professional career and possibly facilitate his employment elsewhere.
Please say to the Minister for Foreign Affairs that in acquiescing in this arrangement this Government has been animated by the desire to avoid the danger to which he has referred of further disorders in Haiti, and by the desire to make every reasonable concession to the wishes of the Haitian authorities as a means of facilitating the early completion of the Haitianization program. You may add that to the end that the purposes of this Government may not be misunderstood, you have been instructed to state that this Government has been very reluctant to acquiesce in the departure by the Haitian Government in this instance from the provisions of the Treaty of September 16, 1915, and that this instance must not be regarded as establishing a precedent.
The Department assumes that no difficulty will be encountered on the part of Mr. Colvin in carrying out the foregoing arrangement.
The Department’s acquiescence in this procedure is based on its understanding that it will facilitate your general negotiations with the Haitian authorities regarding the Haitianization plan, and that you will be able to resume those negotiations at once with reasonable expectation of their early conclusion. If you have any reason to fear that this result would not follow, please so report to the Department before complying with the earlier part of this instruction.