[Enclosure]
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Fiscal
Representative of Haiti (De la
Rue)
Port-au-Prince, July 29,
1938.
I had a long talk with Léger this morning. He told me that a
note* had been handed Lescot,
presumably by Mr. Welles, which suggested that the Department would
be very pleased if assurances could be given that three things had
been arranged satisfactorily in connection with the Haitian-French
commercial treaty and the various agreements surrounding it or
corollary to it.
He mentioned these three things as follows: one, that the Protocol would not be published; two, that no effort would be made to insist
upon any transfer of the trust fund held in New York for payment of
the 1910 bonds; and three, that the French
Government agreed that this arrangement of charging Haitian coffee
Frs. 22.00 per 100 kilos and the issuance of a license therefor by
the Syndicate of Havre, was recognized by the French Government as a
final and full settlement of any possible claim in connection with
the 1910 loan, at the same time not admitting that the Haitian
Government recognized any claim, but had made this settlement,
without recognition, as a means of restoring normal commercial
relations, or words to that effect.
None of the above is intended to be very exact. I am repeating the
conversation as nearly as I remember it.
Léger has asked me to repeat this conversation for the simple reason
that he says he finds it embarrassing to make an explanation as
Foreign Minister. Yet, at the same time, for fear of any
misunderstanding, he would like to explain, viz:
In connection with the first point, regarding the publication of the
Protocol, he told me that he never has received a report from
Chatelain as to exactly how this thing got into its present shape,
nor why there was a Protocol. As a result of this, while Chatelain
was to leave Paris on the last day of August and Abel Léger was to
be appointed Minister on that date, Léger and the President have
decided to send Abel at once. He is sailing on the direct French
boat which leaves here for France tomorrow. De Lens, the French
Minister to Haiti, is arriving here tomorrow by airplane from New
York. He has been in the States more than a month.
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Léger says he knows of no reason why he has to publish the Protocol
or take any further action in connection with it. But the thing that
has him alarmed is the absence of, or refusal to give, any report,
on the part of Chatelain. Mr. Léger does not care to be in a
position of signing a note without having precise information as to
what already has been signed by the Haitian Minister in Paris. What
definite engagements are in writing and which have been made by the
Haitian Minister in Paris and which might, or might not have a
bearing on this matter, Léger must know before he feels free to make
a statement to the Department of the unqualified character which he
feels the Department has every right to expect.
Regarding number two, the transfer of the money in New York to
France, Léger tells me he has a telegram from Chatelain stating that
this is regarded as purely theoretical and that no insistence is to
be expected from French sources on this point. Léger said he has no
doubt that this matter has been settled and that it will not cause
the Haitian government embarrassment, as otherwise it might, because
of course he knows now that he could not get the money released if
he wanted to. He has requested Chatelain to obtain the assurance of
the French government in this matter, in the form of a letter if, in
fact, he had not obtained already such a letter when he telegraphed
that the French government would not insist.
With reference to number three, viz: that the French government
recognize this as a settlement which would eliminate the possibility
of any further claim, he has likewise asked for a letter to this
effect from the Minister in Paris. The matter rests in the same
shape as the subjects above mentioned.
Léger says, to summarize the whole thing, that he has no precise
information as to what took place in Paris, other than the
publication of the treaty and the protocol in the French official
gazette, and a dozen telegrams from Chatelain telling him that
everything is all right. At present there is no French Minister in
Port-au-Prince, and consequently, Léger has no one here with whom he
can discuss these matters, as representing the French
government.
Finally, he does not wish to have it thought that he is sidestepping,
evading or unduly delaying, if he is unable to give Lescot
immediately categoric answers, or to make them himself to the
Legation. He assures me that he is doing everything in his power to
answer satisfactorily every one of these matters; that he is
embarrassed about it, but that he is taking every possible step to
get clear of such embarrassment and to finish with this situation in
a way which he hopes will be entirely satisfactory to all
concerned.
As I said in the beginning, I am transmitting this message at Mr.
Léger’s request and on the understanding that he felt it was a
perfectly
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frank statement
which, he wished to have brought, unofficially, to your knowledge,
pending his official replies to the Department which will be delayed
for a few more days.
