838.51/3236

The Minister in Haiti ( Gordon ) to the Secretary of State

[Extracts]
No. 350

Sir: With reference to my telegram No. 59 of November 27,33 summarizing the documents handed me by the Minister for Foreign Affairs yesterday, I have the honor to report further as follows.

During our conversation the Minister did not give me the various documents to read but only touched orally upon some of the points therein so that there was but little chance for effective comment on my part. The Minister said that he hoped and believed that when I had a chance to examine the draft legislation, which he had prepared for transferring to the Bank the services now performed by the office of the Fiscal Representative, I would find that it provided effectively for the protection of the 1922 bondholders and for the security for their loans; he felt that the control he had provided for was more extensive than that in existence under the present arrangement.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As these documents were not put in my hands until yesterday afternoon, I have not yet had time to study them as intensively as I shall do, [Page 627] but the following preliminary observations may be of some assistance to the Department.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As I have indicated before, this draft legislation, which purports to constitute a plan to transfer the services of the Fiscal Representative’s Office to the Bank, seems to me so vague and chaotic that in my opinion the best way to deal with it is for the Department to send me, for transmission to Léger, its own plan for transferring these services to the Bank, together with as stiff an accompanying instruction as the Department may deem warranted with respect to our insistence on the views therein set forth being met if the Haitians wish us to sign a protocol abrogating the Protocol of October 5, 1919, and the Agreement of August 7, 1933.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In conclusion I may say that it appears to me that while we do have to reckon with Léger’s argument that in certain respects (in particular, the points of the minimum in addition to the 2% in payment for the Bank services, and our interpretation of what the service of the issuance of checks means) our present draft note goes beyond the terms of the draft texts agreed upon in 1934, we should easily be able to make him modify his proposals on those points, and on everything else we should stand firm on our own original proposals. After all, it is the Haitians who have everything to gain from this and who want us to sign a protocol abrogating existing accords; consequently, although Léger will probably put up a considerable show of resistance, if we remain firm I do not see how the Haitians can help but accede to our point of view.

Respectfully yours,

George A. Gordon
[Enclosure 1—Translation]

The Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Léger ) to the American Minister ( Gordon )

Mr. Minister: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication dated November 18, 1936, under cover of which you have kindly transmitted to me a draft Protocol as well as a draft letter which is to form an integral part of the said Protocol, the whole being designed to put an end to American financial control in Haiti.

These drafts reproduce in their broad outlines those which were negotiated and prepared in the month of May 1934, when the principle of the termination of American financial control and of the organization of a service of control in the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti was agreed upon. As you have kindly brought out [Page 628] in the course of the interviews that I have had the honor of having with you recently, these drafts of 1934 embody the conditions already agreed upon between the two governments, and it is only a question of inserting in these drafts of 1934 the modifications rendered necessary by the changes which have come about since that time, notably by the expiration of the Haitian-American Convention of 1915.

The draft Protocol which Your Excellency has kindly submitted to me fulfills these conditions entirely, but the draft letter, while reproducing on the whole the terms of the draft letter and memorandum studied in 1934, contains two or three changes which, in my opinion, substantially modify the conditions already agreed upon between our two governments. I take the liberty of pointing out to Your Excellency the two or three points in question:

In the course of the negotiations in 1934, the Haitian Government agreed to undertake:

“not to open supplementary or extraordinary credits unless available funds existed to cover them”.

The new text which Your Excellency has kindly proposed to me is worded as follows:

“#8 draft letter.—It (the Government) will not open supplementary or extraordinary credits unless available funds exist to cover them, as certified to it by the Board of Directors of the Bank”.

The Haitian Government does not believe it possible to accept the addition made to the draft agreement of 1934, which would result in obliging it to refer to the Bank before being able to open a supplementary or extraordinary credit. The formal engagement that it takes not to open supplementary or extraordinary credits unless available funds exist is sufficiently clear and explicit, and the control of the Bank for the safeguarding of the rights of the bondholders is amply guaranteed by the fact that it could refuse to issue checks against these credits in case there were no available funds.

I have the honor then to propose the adoption, purely and simply, of the wording which was envisaged in 1934.

Likewise, clause 10 of the new draft is worded thus:

“It (the Government) will transfer to the Bank the service effecting the pre-audit of government payments, the issuance of checks and the public accounting, as this service is at present organized. All checks shall be issued in the name only of the Haitian Government and shall be signed by a special employee 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 at present 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 occur in an order addressed to it for payment, or in the vouchers which accompany that order.”

[Page 629]

This wording goes far beyond the engagements that the Haitian Government took toward the American Government and toward the Council of the bondholders of the 1922 loan. The extent of control that the Haitian Government is called upon to give to the bondholders through the intermediary of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti is clearly limited by Article 13 of the Contract of July 8, 1935, and was embodied in clause 6 of the draft memorandum of 1934, which is worded as follows:

The Haitian Government undertakes to:

“Transfer to the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti the service of issuance of checks, as it is at present organized. All checks issued will be in the name only of the Haitian Government and will be signed by a special employee 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 at present 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 occur in an order addressed to it for payment, or in the vouchers which accompany that order.”

The Haitian Government does not believe it can extend the scope of these undertakings, inasmuch as it intends to create a Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic designed to become a permanent part of the Haitian Financial Administration to which will be given certain powers (attributions) which Article 10 of the draft letter submitted by Your Excellency proposes to give to the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

Here again the Haitian Government suggests that the wording which was agreed upon in 1934 and which gives to the bondholders of the 1922 loan the desired guarantee, be adopted purely and simply.

I have the honor then to transmit to Your Excellency a counter-draft letter embodying the modifications envisaged above as well as certain changes of slight importance rendered necessary by the Haitian Government’s plan to create a Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic.

Please accept [etc.]

Georges N. Léger
[Enclosure 2—Translation]34

Draft Counterproject of Note To Be Attached to and Form an Integral Part of the Protocol

Excellency: 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 accord of August 7, 1933, my Government desires to inform you of its firm decision to maintain the organization [Page 630] of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti as set forth in the contract of sale of this bank, which contract was sanctioned by the Haitian Legislature by the law of 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 of six members named by the President of the Republic of Haiti, in accordance with the stipulations set forth in articles IV and XVII of the contract of sale of the bank, signed July 8, 1935, and sanctioned and approved by the law of sanctions of 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 and for the Treasury service of the bank. The bank shall also have the power and 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 National Bank of the Republic of Haiti 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 holders of the loan, the bank shall levy 2 per centum on all of the gross annual receipts of the Government. The Government will guarantee to the bank a minimum amount of G.600.000.00 a year and the bank on its part will agree that if the commission of 2% brings in [Page 631] any year more than G.1.000.000.00 it will return to the Treasury all sums above that maximum amount.

(3) The Government shall give irrevocable instructions to the bank, specifying that the payments for the service of the loan and for the service of the Treasury shall enjoy a priority with respect to any other payment to be made from its funds. 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 National Bank of the Republic of Haiti 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 30 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 request 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, 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) Considering that all the series B bonds making part of the loan of 1922 have been retired recently, the public debt of the Republic of Haiti could be increased by a loan of an amount equivalent to the authorized issue of the said series B bonds; otherwise the Government of Haiti will not increase the public debt except for the repayment of the loan of 1922 in circulation.

(8) It will not pass supplementary or extraordinary credits unless there are funds available to cover them.

[Page 632]

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 National Bank of the Republic of Haiti the service of the issue of checks, as now organized. All checks issued shall be in the name only of the Haitian Government and shall be signed by a special employee 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 concerning the publication of the monthly and annual bulletins 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 appointments and career rules appropriate to insure the stability of said services and to provide for promotion according to competence, length of service and quality of work performed. The dismissal of an official or an employee of the aforesaid services will not be permitted, except for just cause and after a hearing.

(b) It will operate the customs service on an outlay in any one year of not more than 3 percent of the custom 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 13 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 Director of the Office of Receipts and of Expenditures 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 [Page 633] renounce the protocol of October 3, 1919, and the accord of August 7, 1933.

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, to which the present letter shall be attached, so that it shall form an integral part thereof, the Haitian Government will take legislative measures necessary to effectuate the propositions presented above. It is understood that the signature of the protocol shall be made contingent upon the enactment of this legislation, which shall be promulgated in the Moniteur on the same day, 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.

[Enclosure 3—Translation]

The Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Léger ) to the American Minister ( Gordon )

Aide-Mémoire

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations presents his compliments to the American Minister and begs him to refer to the aide-mémoire 35 which accompanies the communication of November 18, 1936, transmitting a draft protocol as well as a draft letter designed to put an end to American Financial Control in Haiti.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations, in reply to the suggestion of the American Minister that a minimum amount be provided for, for the sums allocated to the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti under the percentage of two per cent, desires to remark that the Contract of Concession of September 5, 1910, of the Bank, provided in its Article 16 that the State, which accords the Bank one per cent on the receipts, guarantees to the Bank a minimum commission of $60,000.00 per year, it being understood moreover that the said commission will not exceed $100,000.00 per year, whatever the value of the receipts may be.

The Haitian Government will willingly accept an analogous stipulation for the percentage of two per cent, and is disposed to guarantee a minimum commission of Gdes. 600,000.00 per year, while providing for a maximum of Gdes. 1,000,000.00 which is never to be exceeded.

[Page 634]

Moreover, in the draft letter presented by the American Minister, it is provided in section B of paragraph 11 that the disbursements for the functioning of the service of the Receiver General of Customs will not exceed two per cent of the Customs Receipts.

Since the new services which the Haitian Government desires to create under the denomination of “Service of Control of Receipts and Disbursements” are to have broader powers (attributions) and to employ a more numerous personnel than in the project envisaged in 1934, the Haitian Government suggests that the percentage of two per cent be raised to three per cent of the customs receipts, with the guarantee of a budgetary minimum of Gdes. 750,000.00.

[Enclosure 4—Translation]

The Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Léger ) to the American Minister ( Gordon )

Aide-Mémoire

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations presents his compliments to the American Minister and begs him kindly to refer to the aide-mémoire which accompanied his communication of November 18, 1936, transmitting a draft Protocol as well as a draft letter designed to put an end to American financial control.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations desires to inform the American Minister that the Haitian Government consents willingly to accord to the American employees who may be dismissed upon the closure of the office of the Fiscal Representative the same treatment accorded to American employees dismissed upon the termination of the other American services in Haiti, with the reservation that the Haitian Government does not believe that there is any occasion to grant any indemnity to those American employees whose services may be retained in whatever capacity in the new organization of control to be created in the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

[Enclosure 5—Translation]

The Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Léger ) to the American Minister ( Gordon )

Aide-Mémoire

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations presents his compliments to the American Minister and begs him kindly to refer to the aide-mémoire which accompanied his communication of November [Page 635] 18, 1936, transmitting a draft Protocol as well as a draft letter designed to put an end to American financial control.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations desires to inform the American Minister that the Haitian Government would prefer to see the date on which the Protocol will enter into effect fixed as of the first day of a fiscal month not later than thirty days after the signature of the Protocol. The Haitian Government feels that such a period will be amply sufficient to permit the Fiscal Representative to make the arrangements alluded to in the aide-mémoire of November 18, 1936.

[Enclosure 6—Translation]

The Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Léger ) to the American Minister ( Gordon )

Aide-Mémoire

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations presents his compliments to the American Minister and begs him kindly to refer to the aide-mémoire which accompanied his communiciation of November 18, 1936, transmitting a draft Protocol as well as a draft letter designed to put an end to American financial control.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations desires to inform the American Minister that the Haitian Government will communicate to the American Legation, before they are voted, the draft laws which must be voted as a consequence of any arrangement putting an end to the present American financial control.

[Enclosure 7—Translation]

The Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Léger ) to the American Minister ( Gordon )

Aide-Mémoire

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations presents his compliments to the American Minister and begs him kindly to refer to the aide-mémoire which accompanied his communication of November 18, 1936, transmitting a draft Protocol as well as a draft letter designed to put an end to American financial control.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Relations desires to inform the American Minister that the Haitian Government will proceed without delay to the publication in the Moniteur of the Contract of July 18, 1935, relative to the purchase of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

[Page 636]
[Enclosure 8—Translation]

Draft Legislation No.1

In view of articles 30 and 33 of the Constitution, In view of the Protocol of . . . . .

In view of the law of August 9, 1926, on the customs service,

In view of the law of June 6, 1924, creating in the Department of Finance a special service known as Administration General of Internal Revenue,

In view of the Contract of July 8, 1935, relative to the sale to the State of the shares of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti;

Considering that it is necessary to maintain the Service of control of finances of the Republic, with a view to assuring the execution of the fiscal and budgetary laws,

Considering, moreover, that the expiration of the Treaty of September 16, 1915, renders necessary a new organization of our Treasury Service; On the report of the Secretary of State of Finances, After deliberation in the Council of Secretaries of State, And with the approval of the Permanent Committee of the National Assembly,

Decrees

Chapter I.—Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic

Article 1.—There is created in the Department of Finance a Special Service denominated Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic.

Article 2.—The Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic is charged with:

1)
control over the collection of imposts, taxes, rents, and any other receipts generally undertaken by the Administration General of Internal Revenue;
2)
control over the accounts of the Treasury Service;
3)
with the execution of budgetary and additional expenditures of the Republic, in conformity with the instructions of the Secretary of State for Finance and the dispositions of law with respect to the Budget and Public Accounting;
4)
with the execution, within the limits of the credits which may be appropriated, of requisitions for material and office furnishings and supplies made by the Secretaries of State for the service of the different branches of Public Administration and transmitted by the Secretary of State for Finance;
5)
with the application of taxes and fines envisaged in the laws and customs tariffs in force.

In case of payment under protest of customs duties or internal taxes, and in the case where a refund of the sum paid is demanded, a written [Page 637] claim will be rendered to the competent service within a period of thirty days beginning on the date upon which the duties or the taxes will have been paid. If the decision is not accepted, the matter will be presented to a commission formed of a delegate of the Secretary of State for Finance, of a delegate of the Secretary of State for Commerce, and of a delegate of the Director General of the Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic.

Article 3.—The Director General of the Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic shall make to the Secretary of State for Finance all appropriate suggestions, as far as concerns the elaboration and the execution of the fiscal and customs laws of the general Budget of the Republic.

Article 4—The Director General of the Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic is assisted by an Assistant Director General, who, should occasion arise, replaces him by right.

The Director General of the Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic is also assisted by a technical counselor, called upon to render his qualified opinion on any disputes which may arise on the occasion of the application of the customs and fiscal laws, of taxes, fines, and imposts generally of whatever nature constituting the revenues of the State, as well as upon the application of all measures intending to augment the said revenues.

The technical counselor has access to all collecting agencies of the State and shall make any suggestions susceptible of contributing to the development of their returns.

Article 5.—A controller and an assistant controller are charged with the Accounting Service. They have the special mission of controlling the regularity of any documents of account relating to expenditures, so as to assure execution of the Budget and of the laws and decrees relating to credit.

They are charged with pointing out to the Director General of the Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic in entire freedom, so as to secure the necessary rectifications, any irregularity which may be contained in an order for payment.

Article 6.—The Controller and the Assistant Controller are appointed for a period of five consecutive years, renewable at the pleasure of the President of the Republic, upon the recommendation of the Director General of the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic in agreement with the Secretary of State for Finance.

In case of grave error or of failure in their duties, they may be dismissed by the President of the Republic, upon a report originating with the Secretary of State for Finance and after deliberation in the Council of the Secretaries of State,

[Page 638]

Article 7.—The personnel of the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic shall be organized by decree of the President of the Republic.

The interior regulations of the Service shall be prepared by the Director General and submitted for the approval of the Secretary of State for Finance.

There shall be deducted previously from the total of the customs receipts three per cent (3%) with a view to providing for the payment of the salaries of the Director General and of the personnel, for office expenses, for expenses of travel, displacement, and inspection necessitated by the service.

The administration expenses established under article 3 of the law of June 6, 1924, on the Administration General of Internal Revenue are divided as follows:

  • 2% commission to the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti, as is foreseen in the following article;
  • 9% for various general expenses of the Administration General of Internal Revenue;
  • 4% for the expenses of the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic occasioned by the control of collections effected by the Administration General of Internal Revenue.

An annual budget of administration expenses of the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic shall be drawn up by the Secretary of State for Finance and, at the end of each fiscal period, any surplus of expenditures will be turned in to the Public Treasury.

Chapter II.—Treasury Service

Article 8.—In conformity with article XIII of the Contract of July 8, 1935, and until the complete retirement of the Loan of 1922, the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti remains irrevocably charged:

1)
with receiving for the account of the Government the proceeds of all bordereaux issued by the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic and by the Administration General of Internal Revenues;
2)
with keeping the sums set aside for the payment of the amortization and the interests of loans contracted by the State, and of effecting the remainder of the said sums to the Fiscal Agents of the Government, in execution of the loan contracts.

In remuneration of this treasury service and that of all other services with which the Bank may be expressly charged by article XIII of the Contract of July 8, 1935, this Establishment shall receive annually a sum equivalent to two percent (2%) of the total revenue [Page 639] received by the Government. This remuneration of two percent shall figure in the Budget of Expenditures of the State.

The State guarantees to the Bank a minimum of six hundred thousand gourdes (G.600.000,00) per annum for all its operations, but this commission shall not exceed one million gourdes (G.1000.000,00) per annum, no matter what be the total of the sums received.

Article 9.—Duplicates of each bordereaux issued by the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic and by the Administration General of Internal Revenue shall be sent without delay to the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti, and the responsible chiefs of the service shall exercise diligence in carrying out this order.

Moreover, the Bank shall receive from consuls and diplomatic or consular agents of Haiti, for each ship which may touch its ports, duplicates of all documents such as consular invoices, certificates of origin, bills of lading, manifests, etc.

The National Bank of the Republic of Haiti shall always have the right to obtain from the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic all documents or accounting returns which it may judge necessary for the special control which it must exercise with a view to safeguarding the rights of the holders of the 1922 bonds in conformity with article XIII of the Contract of July 8, 1935.

Article 10.—The whole total sum of the receipts collected by the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti for the account of the State shall be placed to the credit of the Government and distributed in conformity with the dispositions of the law on the Budget and on Public Accounting and with dispositions of article 8 of the present decree law concerning the service of the amortization and of the interests of the loans.

There shall also be posted to the credit of the Government, under the title of Various Receipts comprised within the Budget of Ways and Means, one third of the profits of the Bank belonging to the State, in accordance with the stipulations of article XV of the Contract of July 8, 1935.

Article 11.—Within the first fifteen days of each month, the Secretary of State for Finance shall send to the Director of the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic and to the Director of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti, a statement of the budgetary douzièmes as well as a statement of any additional credits, if there be any.

Article 12.—The payment of budgetary and additional credits will be effected upon orders for payment of the Secretary of State for [Page 640] Finance sent to the Director General of the Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic and by checks issued by the service of payments of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

With the exceptions foreseen in the law on the Budget and of public Accounting, orders for payment, bearing the visa of the controller and of the assistant controller, will be sent to the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti not later than forty-eight hours after their receipt by the Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic.

If in the orders for payment which may have been sent to it, the Bank should discover some error, omission, or insufficiency of justification, it (the Bank) is required to advise without delay the Director General of the Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic, who in his turn shall immediately inform the Secretary of State for Finance in order to secure the necessary corrections.

Article 13.—The service of the issuance of checks is transferred to the office of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti. All the checks will be issued in the name of the Haitian Government and will be sent by a delegate of the Haitian Government designated by the President of the Republic upon the nomination of the Secretary of State for Finance.

Article 14.—The National Bank of the Republic of Haiti will send to the Secretary of State for Finance and to the Director General of the Service of Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic on the fifteenth of each month at the latest, the statements of account with respect to all and any receipts and expenditures during the course of the month preceding for the account of the Government.

Article 15.—The present decree law shall be published and the Secretary of State for Finance is charged with its execution.

[Enclosure 9—Translation]

Draft Legislation No. 2

In view of Article 30 of the Constitution;

In view of the Protocol of . . . . .

In view of the Contract of July 8, 1935, relative to the sale to the State of the shares of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti;

In view of the Contract of September 5, 1910, granting a concession to the Banque de l’Union Parisienne of the privilege for the creation and the exploitation of a State Bank under the name of “National Bank of the Republic of Haiti”;

[Page 641]

In view of the letter dated . . . . . by which the Board of Directors of the National Bank for the Republic of Haiti recommends to the Secretary of State for Finance certain modifications in the Contract of Concession of September 5, 1910, judged desirable in view of the execution of the stipulations of Article XIII of the Contract of July 8, 1935;

In view of the decision of the Council of Secretaries of State under date of . . . . . approving the modifications suggested by the Board of Directors of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti;

In view of the Decree Law of . . . . . creating in the Department of Finance a Special Service known as “Service of the Control of Receipts and Expenditures of the Republic”;

Considering that Article XIII of the Contract of July 8, 1935, has come to add new obligations to those with which the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti was charged by Article XIV of the Contract of Concession of September 5, 1910; that it is necessary consequently to create in the Bank a Special Service charged with the control and the inspection of customs statements, with the issuance of checks, with the general surveillance over receipts of the Government, with the preparation and the issuance of economic and financial reports and statistics.

Considering that it devolves upon the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti to continue to assure the Treasury service, in conformity with its Contract of Concession;

Considering that according to the stipulations of Article XV of the said Contract of Concession the Bank can only effectuate payments upon the presentation of orders issued by the Secretary of State for Finance according to regulation; that this procedure is not compatible with the method of paying by individual checks adopted by the Government and that there is need, in consequence, to modify dispositions of the said Article XV;

Upon the report of the Secretary of State for Finance

After deliberations in the Council of the Secretaries of State,

And with the approval of the Permanent Committee of the National Assembly

Decrees

Article 1. There is created in the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti a Special Service known as the Special Service of Inspection of the Bank.

All and any expenditures of this Special Service will be met from the treasury commission of the Bank, such as it has been fixed in Article XIII of the Contract of July 8, 1935 (to be defined).

[Page 642]

Article 2. The Special Service of Inspection of the Bank is charged:

1.
With the general supervision over the receipts of the Government;
2.
With the verification (contrôle) and with the inspection of customs statements;
3.
With the preparation and the issuance of financial statistics and reports;
4.
With the issuance of Government checks.

Article 3. The personnel of the Special Service of Inspection of the Bank will be organized according to a Decree of the President of the Republic.

Article 4. The payments to be effected will conform to the following procedure; the Bank will pay to beneficiaries the amount of the checks drawn on it by the Government within the limit of budgetary or additional disposable appropriations, in accordance with orders for payment regularly issued. It must assure itself in advance that the said orders for payment do not contain any error, omission or insufficiency of justification, without prejudice to dispositions of law in force relative to the expenses of the secret police or those assimilated to expenses of the secret police, to certain categories of expenditures where the payment is authorized before issuance of orders of payment (ordonnancement et mandatement), or advances which may be justified.

Article 5. The present Decree Law abrogates all laws or dispositions of law, all decree laws or dispositions of decree laws which are contrary thereto, and the Secretary of State for Finance is entrusted with its execution.

[Enclosure 10—Translation]

Draft Legislation No. 3

In view of Article 35 of the Constitution;

In view of Articles 1, 2 and 3 of Decree Law concerning the creation in the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti of a Special Service known as Special Service of Inspection of the Bank.

Upon the report of the Secretary of State for Finance,

And after deliberations in the Council of the Secretaries of State,

Decrees

Article 1. The personnel of the Special Service of Inspection of the Bank, created in the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti by Decree Law . . . . . , is organized and paid as follows: [Page 643]

[Page 644]
Management (“Direction”)
Per month Per year
1 Director $750
1 Assistant Director  500
$15.00
Superintendency General of the Receipts of the Government
1 Chief of Service Inspector General $300
1 Assistant Chief of Service charged with Jacmel, Petit-Goave, Miragoane and Saint-Marc 200
3 typists at $50 $150
1 typist (Miragone)   30
180
1 inspector charged with Cap-Haitien, de Fort Liberté, Port-de-Paix and Gonaives 200
3 typists at $50 $150
1 typist (Fort-Liberté)   30
180
1 inspector charged with Cayes, Jérémie and Aquin 200
2 typists at $50 $100
1 typist (Aquin)   30
130 16.680
Control and Inspection of Customs Statements
Port-au-Prince : 3 employees, controllers at $100 300
Cap : 2 employees at $75 150
Gonaives : 2 employees at $75 150
Port-de-Paix : 2 employees at $75 150
Fort-Liberté : 1 employees 50
Saint-Marc : 1 employees 75
Petit-Goave : 1 employees 75
Miragoane : 1 employees 75
Jacmel : 2 employees at $75 150
Cayes : 2 employees at $75 150
Jérémie : 2 employees at $75 150
Aquin : 1 employees  50
18.000
Preparation and Issuance of Reports and Statistics
2 statisticians at $75 $150
2 typists at $50 100
2 probationers (adding machines) at $30   60
3.720
Control of Orders for Payment and Vouchers
2 employees at $100 200 2.400
Issuance of Checks
Per month Per year
1 special employee 85
1 special employee 65
1 special employee 65
1 archivist 60
1 employee (check machine) 55
1 typist 40
1 employee 35
1 delegate of the Secretary for Finance  200
  6.480
$62.280

Article 2. The National Bank of the Republic of Haiti will always have the right, if necessity should arise, to reduce the salaries provided for in the present Decree, to reduce or to increase the number of employees without, however, surpassing the total as foreseen here for salaries of the personnel of the Special Service of Inspection.

Article 3. The employees of the Special Service of Inspection of the Bank are required to conform to the regulations of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti.

Article 4. The Secretary of State for Finance is entrusted with the execution of the present Decree.

  1. Not printed.
  2. Supplied by the editors.
  3. See paragraph 2 of despatch No. 346, November 18, from the Minister in Haiti, p. 621.