839.001 Trujillo, Rafael L./354
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of the American Republics (Chapin)2
| Participants: | General Trujillo3 |
| The Dominican Minister, Sr. Pastoriza | |
| The American Minister to the Dominican Republic, Mr. Nor web | |
| Mr. Duggan4 | |
| Mr. Chapin |
General Trujillo, accompanied by the Dominican Minister and Mr. Norweb called to see Mr. Duggan late in the afternoon after the tea given by the President and Mrs. Roosevelt at the White House. The General first expressed appreciation for the gracious reception given him at the White House and then indulged in the usual amenities.
The first point which the General brought up was his desire to obtain some 4,000 Springfield rifles for the Dominican Army to replace the present Spanish Mausers. Mr. Duggan explained that legislation was now pending in Congress whereby the arsenals, factories, and navy yards of this Government would be authorized to supply certain arms and munitions to the governments of the other American republics, but that unfortunately he did not believe this legislation included authorization for the sale of rifles.
General Trujillo said that he had noted that the United States Army was now substituting a new automatic rifle for the Springfield, and that very soon we would have surplus Springfields. He expressed the opinion that perhaps all that would be necessary would be an order [Page 580] from the President. Mr. Duggan explained again that such authority did not lie exclusively with the President and would probably necessitate an act of Congress, but that when there was a surplus of Spring-fields the Department would be glad to consider a formal request from the Dominican Government.
Mr. Norweb stated that the General was anxious to discuss informally the proposed revision of the Convention of 1924, whereat Mr. Duggan said that we would be most interested in learning at first hand the General’s views, and that he hoped that the General would speak with complete frankness.
General Trujillo then said that “if the Government of the United States was really sincere in its desire” to relieve the Dominican people of the existing anomalous situation, there was a “very simple solution” which would be merely for the President of the United States under the authority conferred on him by the Convention to nominate a Dominican citizen as Receiver General of Customs.
Mr. Duggan replied that this was indeed a completely new idea and that although the proposed solution had the advantage of simplicity, it would require some consideration. Mr. Duggan continued that we had understood all along that Dominican objections with respect to the present special relationship between the two countries were more concerned with the form rather than with personalities. There then ensued some brief discussion, in which it was pointed out to the General that his proposed solution did not absolve the United States Government from any responsibility toward the bondholders, and that it was the sincere desire of the United States in accordance with its general policy so to modify the Convention, if that were possible, as to replace any direct relationship between the two governments by one between an organization representing the bondholders and the Dominican Government under terms which would protect the rights of these bondholders.
The General then stated that he felt that the present proposal which involved the transfer of the duties of the Receivership to a “Dominican National Bank” was unsatisfactory, since in effect this bank would be neither “Dominican” nor “national” as the control of its board of directors would be in the hands of foreigners. As Mr. Duggan was out of the room at this moment, Mr. Chapin observed that the form had been chosen advisedly due to the understanding that the Dominican Government wished to found a national bank and since it was felt that the proposed form would be more acceptable to the Dominican Government. General Trujillo stated that the Dominican Government did in fact desire a national bank. There then ensued a general discussion upon Mr. Duggan’s return, as a result of which it was agreed by all that there was no absolute necessity for tying in a national bank plan with the proposed modification [Page 581] of the Convention. It was suggested that perhaps the National City Bank could be approached with a view to ascertaining whether it would be willing to sell the Dominican branches to the Dominican Government as a separate operation.
Mr. Duggan then referred to one of the earlier drafts for a revision of the Convention of 1924, namely that presented in March 1937,5 which met most of what we understood to be Dominican aspirations and which provided for the collection of the customs by a receivership administered by Dominicans under the general supervision of a “customs representative” who with several American assistants would be appointed by the Dominican president from a panel submitted by the Executive Committee of Dominican bondholders.
The opinion was expressed that this might be a satisfactory basis upon which to build up new drafts.
Mr. Duggan suggested that the Department would be glad to continue discussions along these lines with the Dominican Minister in the absence of General Trujillo in the hope that some concrete and acceptable plan might be evolved in time to present to General Trujillo upon his return from Europe through the United States to his own country. The General acknowledged somewhat grudgingly this suggestion, but left in an atmosphere of apparent cordiality.
- During the previous months of this year informal discussions took place between the American Legation and the Dominican Ministry for Foreign Affairs regarding a convention and an enabling act for setting up a Dominican National Bank to replace the receivership of Dominican customs. Exploratory in character, these discussions resulted in a succession of new drafts which were further modified during the remainder of the year.↩
- Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, Chief of Staff of the Dominican Army.↩
- Laurence Duggan, Chief of the Division of the American Republis.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1937, vol. v, p. 453.↩