838.105/409: Telegram
The Minister in Haiti (Munro) to the Secretary of State
[Received 5:20 p.m.]
60. In response to an urgent popular demand the President recently expressed a desire to issue a commission as First Lieutenant in the Garde to Leon Paris who made himself a national hero by flying from New York to Port-au-Prince. The Acting Commandant of the Garde approved the idea on condition that a new position in the Garde should be created in order not to prejudice the promotion of Haitian officers now in the service. The President has now issued the commission apparently without realizing that there should be first a modification of the Garde agreement to provide for one additional First Lieutenant. I have discussed the situation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs [Page 698] who agrees with me that we should modify the agreement by a short agreement simply providing for one additional First Lieutenant. I request authorization to sign such an agreement. Both General Vogel and I feel that it would be very inadvisable to be unsympathetic toward the Government’s efforts to give recognition to what the Haitians regard as one of the great achievements of their race.