838.51/3348

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

No. 499

Sir: With reference to my despatch No. 404 of February 5, 1937,29 and other communications regarding the termination of our financial [Page 539] control in Haiti, I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a note received this morning from the Minister for Foreign Affairs.30 As he only transmitted this one copy and I am anxious to get it off today before I leave, I am enclosing it without waiting to have further copies made. A translation of the note will be forwarded by the next air mail.

I have made a few pencil notations on this copy of points in the note which seem to me especially defective, which I trust will be self-explanatory. It will be noted that Leger has not attempted to formulate counter-proposals to the proposals which I submitted to him on December 23, as he has frequently indicated that he would do. As the Department will observe the note closes by saying that if the American Government has any modifications to propose to the original Haitian proposals of last November the Haitian Government will be glad to examine them, quite regardless of the fact that this is just what we did—six months ago.

In conversation with Léger I pointed out to him that this note does not advance matters; it merely reiterates objections to our position which he and I had gone over time and again and which I have reported to the Department, and gets us nowhere. I said that as I had submitted to him a detailed and carefully worked out plan of organization, the logical procedure was for him in his turn to work out a plan of organization differing from ours in the respects which he did not find acceptable, and that the most practical way to set about this—as he had already expressedly realized—was to get down to the discussion of specific details with the Fiscal Representative.

Léger then said that this was true and that on reflection he thought that this was just what he would do in the near future.

I shall be glad to report more fully orally, when I reach the Department next week, this conversation with Léger.

Respectfully yours,

George A. Gordon
  1. Not printed.
  2. Post, p. 540.