M. Léger said that now that he had these documents before him he thought
that within a very short time, perhaps two or three days only, he could
submit to me a plan for the transfer to the Bank of those services of
the Fiscal Representative’s Office covered by the provisions of our
draft note.
M. Léger also stated that he likewise hoped within a short time to be
able to submit to me most of the remaining draft legislation which will
have to be enacted by the Haitian Legislature.
[Enclosure 1]
Draft of Protocol Between the United States and
Haiti for the Termination of American Financial
Control
Whereas the Haitian Legislature has voted
the Laws of Sanctions dated March 28, 1935,31 and
May 21, 1935,32
sanctioning and approving the acquisition of ownership and the
organization by the Government of Haiti of the National Bank of the
Republic of Haiti; and
[Page 622]
Whereas the Government of Haiti has
communicated by note of its Minister for Foreign Affairs dated . . .
. . , 19 . . , to the American Minister at Port-au-Prince the
decision of the Government of Haiti to confer upon the National Bank
of the Republic of Haiti certain powers and duties and to maintain
them in full force and effect, without modification, and to adopt
certain measures of fiscal policy, for the purpose of assuring the
service of the loans of 1922, until such time as all bonds issued
under the loan contracts of 1922 shall have been amortized or
repaid; and
Whereas, in pursuance of the
above-mentioned decision of the Government of Haiti, the National
Legislature has voted enabling laws of . . . . . , 19 . . , and of .
. . . . , 19 . . , et cetera, and the President of Haiti has ordered
these laws to be promulgated and they have been published in the Moniteur of today to take effect on the first
day of . . . . . , 1937; and
Whereas the President of the United States
of America and the President of the Republic of Haiti, being
desirous of strengthening the relations of friendship existing
between their countries, and to that end of concluding a protocol
maintaining those relations upon a basis of mutual understanding and
cooperation, have entered into the following agreement, through
their duly authorized representatives:
Article I
The present protocol, of which the provisions of the aforementioned
note of . . . . . , 19 . . , are an integral part, shall enter into
force on the first day of . . . . . , 1937, and upon that date the
Protocol of October 3, 1919, and the financial arrangement contained
in the Agreement of August 7, 1933, resulting from the last
above-mentioned protocol, shall cease to have effect.
In Witness Whereof this agreement has been
signed and sealed by . . . . . . . on behalf of the United States of
America and by . . . . . . . on behalf of the Republic of Haiti.
Done in duplicate in the English and French languages at the City of
Port-au-Prince on the . . . . . day of . . . . . in the year 193 .
.
[Enclosure 2]
Draft of Note To Be Presented by the Haitian
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Léger) to
the American Minister (Gordon)
With a view to arriving at the conclusion, with the Government of the
United States, of a protocol abrogating the Protocol of October 3,
1919, and the Agreement of August 7, 1933, my Government desires to
inform you of its firm decision to maintain the organization of the
National Bank of the Republic of Haiti (hereinafter referred to as
the Bank) as set forth in the contract of sale of this Bank, which
[Page 623]
contract was
sanctioned by the Haitian Legislature by the Laws of March 28, 1935,
and May 21, 1935, as well as of its determination to entrust to this
Bank all the powers necessary to assure the service of the 1922
loans and to make no change either in the organization of the Bank
or in the powers granted to it until such time as the obligations of
the said loans shall have been completely met,
I have the honor more specifically to set forth my Government’s
intentions as follows:
(1) The Bank shall be directed by a Board of Directors (Cornell cPAdministration) of six members
named by the President of the Republic of Haiti, in accordance with
the stipulations set forth in Article IV and Article XVII of the
contract of sale of the Bank, signed July 8, 1935, and sanctioned
and approved by the Laws of Sanctions of March 28, 1935, and May 21,
1935. The president of the Board of Directors shall be elected by a
majority vote of the members then in office.
(2) The Bank, as the sole depository of all the general funds
whatever of the Government of Haiti, shall have the power and the
duty of receiving in the first instance all the receipts of the
Government and all payments made in favor thereof, to set aside in
preference to any other expenses the sums necessary for the service
of the 1922 Haitian loans, for the Treasury service of the Bank, and
for the operation of the customs houses and the internal revenue
service. The Bank shall also have the power and the duty, as the
duly constituted agent of the Government, to make all the payments
required by the loan contracts. This matter is dealt with in Article
XIII of the contract of sale of the Bank by the National City Bank
of New York (hereinafter referred to as the Bank contract), and the
undertakings of my Government as above set forth are designed
specifically to carry into effect the purpose set forth in the said
Article XIII of the Bank contract.
On the date of entry into force of the proposed protocol, the Bank
shall take from the funds of the Government the sums necessary for
the service of the loans for the calendar month then beginning, and
in the course of this same month it shall set aside, in preference
to any other levy, the sums contemplated for the service of the
following calendar month and so on, the service of each month being
assured by the levies made during the preceding month.
For the service of the Treasury and for all the administrative
services that it may render with a view to assuring a complete
protection of the interests of the holders of the loan, the Bank
shall levy two percentum of all the gross receipts of the Government
in each year, provided, however, that, if necessary to constitute a
minimum amount of . . . . . gourdes, such percentage shall be
correspondingly increased.
[Page 624]
(3) The Government shall give irrevocable instructions to the Bank,
specifying that the payments for the service of the loan, for the
Treasury service of the Bank, and for the operation of the customs
houses and the internal revenue service, shall enjoy priority with
respect to any other payment from the funds of the Government. These
dispositions are designed more specifically to carry into effect the
provisions of Article XIII of the Bank contract above mentioned.
(4) On the date of entry into force of the proposed protocol a
service shall be established at the Bank charged with the
examination of the statements of account (bordereaux) issued by the various customs houses of the
Republic and by the internal revenue service. The Board of Directors
of the Bank, within thirty days of the issuance of any customs
statement or internal tax statement, shall have the right to request
the issuance of a supplementary and explanatory statement by the
Haitian Director General of Customs. In the case of disagreement
between the Board of Directors and the Director General of Customs,
the differences shall be settled by the Secretary of State for
Finance.
Every facility shall be afforded to the Board of Directors of the
Bank to ascertain directly or by its qualified representatives
whether the customs laws and fiscal laws in general are strictly
applied, in order to make a report thereon to the Secretary of State
for Finance.
The Haitian Government further pledges itself to adopt the following
measures and dispositions until the loans of 1922 have been
completely repaid.
(5) (a) It will direct the Board of Directors
of the Bank to submit, not later than November 30 of each year, a
detailed and complete estimate of the receipts for the next fiscal
year.
(b) It will maintain the annual budget of
expenditures within the limits of the estimate made.
(6) It will bring the receipts to the level of the expenditures, in
case of a probable deficit, as notified to it by the Board of
Directors of the Bank, either by the creation of new receipts or by
the reduction of the expenditures to the level of the receipts, or
by both methods.
(7) Inasmuch as the series B bonds, forming part of the 1922 loan,
have recently been fully retired, the public debt of the Republic of
Haiti may be increased by a loan of an amount equivalent to the
authorized issue of said series B bonds; otherwise the Government of
Haiti will not increase the public debt except on the occasion of a
refunding operation of the outstanding 1922 loans.
(8) It will not pass supplementary or extraordinary credits unless
there are funds available to cover them as certified to it by the
Board of Directors of the Bank.
[Page 625]
The dispositions of the foregoing paragraph are designed more
specifically to carry into effect the purpose envisaged by Article V
of the Budget Law.
(9) It will not exceed the monthly douzième
except in case of force majeure, and with the
approval of the Council of Secretaries of State.
(10) It will transfer to the Bank the service effecting the pre-audit
of government payments, the issuance of checks and the keeping of
government accounts, as at present organized. All checks issued
shall be in the name only of the Haitian Government and shall be
signed by a special officer designated by the President of Haiti.
The Bank shall continue the publication of the monthly Bulletin and, in an appropriate form, of the
annual Bulletin now prepared by the services
of the Fiscal Agent; it shall also have the duty of indicating to
the Secretary of State for Finance any error which may be found in
orders addressed to it for payment, or in the vouchers which
accompany such orders.
The foregoing dispositions are designed to carry into effect the
purpose envisaged by the provisions of Article XIII of the Bank
contract hereinabove referred to.
(11) (a) It will organize the customs and
internal revenue services according to rules of appropriate
appointments and career so as to insure the stability of said
services and to provide for promotion according to competence,
length of service and quality of work performed. It will not permit
the dismissal of any officer or employee of the above-mentioned
services except for a good cause and then after a hearing
granted.
(b) It will operate the customs services on an
outlay in any one year of not more than two percent of the customs
receipts, or, if such percentage of receipts in any year shall not
constitute a minimum amount of . . . . . gourdes, then upon an
outlay of such minimum amount, and the internal revenue service on
an outlay in any one year of not more than twelve percent of the
internal revenue receipts, or, if such percentage of receipts in any
year shall not constitute a minimum amount of . . . . . gourdes,
then upon an outlay of such minimum amount.
(c) It will give the Haitian Director General
of Customs jurisdiction over the general administration of the
internal revenue service (Service des
Contributions).
In the certainty that the Bank, with the organization above
indicated, and the powers conferred on it, can adequately insure the
service of the loans of 1922 and the protection of the interests of
the holders, I have prepared a draft protocol which you will find
enclosed, whereby it is proposed that Your Excellency’s Government
shall renounce the Protocol of October 3, 1919, and the Agreement of
August 7, 1933.
[Page 626]
I am further instructed by the President to inform you that upon
receipt of a favorable reply to this note from Your Excellency,
expressing agreement on behalf of your Government with the terms of
the proposed protocol, as well as with the terms of the present note
which shall be attached to the said protocol and form an integral
part thereof, he is determined to submit to the national legislature
draft legislation covering the proposals presented above, for
enactment either in a regular or an extraordinary session of that
body. It is understood that the signature of the protocol shall be
made contingent upon prior enactment of this legislation, which
shall have been promulgated, and published in the Moniteur on the day of the said signature, to become
effective as of the date of entry into force of the protocol.
In the firm hope that the proposals presented above, and which shall
remain in force until the complete payment of the loans of 1922,
will meet with the approval of Your Excellency and that of the
Government of the United States, I beg you to accept, Mr. Minister,
the assurances of my high consideration.
