Office of the Historian

No. 174.
Mr. Bassett to Mr. Fish.

Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, Hayti, June 21, 1876. (Received July 6.)
No. 457.]

Sir: Referring to my No. 448, of the 10th of April last, which invited your attention to a dispatch addressed to this legation by the then Haytian minister of foreign affairs, to notify us of the intention of the Domingue government to terminate our treaty of November 3, 1864, according to the forty-second article of that instrument, I have the honor to state that since the overthrow of Domingue I have availed myself of convenient opportunities to bring the subject to the consideration of the friends and members of the existing provisional government, and that I have found, as I intimated in my said No. 448 that I probably would find, the proposed termination of the treaty quite out of harmony with the views of all this people whom I have sounded upon the subject, including the minister of foreign affairs, all his colleagues, and all the members of the provisional government.

The minister, however, told me that the provisional government, very properly considering itself only a temporary necessity, had decided to refer to its successor all matters which involved anything more than the mere routine working of the government machinery.

I send herewith inclosed the note which he wrote to me the 10th instant on the subject. It will be observed that in this note the minister distinctly declares that his “government does not admit the preceding administration’s view” in regard to the termination of the treaty, and promises to lay the question before the Corps Législatif. It may, however, be doubted whether this last-named step will be deemed necessary or expedient when once a definitive government shall have been established.

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I shall not fail to give yon early information of any farther proceeding or expression of sentiment on the part of the authorities of this government which may come within my knowledge on the subject.

I am, &c.,

EBENEZER D. BASSETT.
[Inclosure in No. 457.—Translation.]

Mr. Price to Mr. Bassett.

Bureau of Foreign Affairs,
Port au Prince, June 10, 1876.

Mr. Minister: I have the honor to return to you under this cover the letter which you communicated to me, and which my predecessor, Mr. Excellent, addressed to you, in order to give notice, through you, to the Government of the United States of America, of the intention of the government of Ex-President Domingue to terminate the treaty de mettre fin au traité) existing between Hayti and the Union.

I am happy to inform you that my government does not admit the preceding administration’s view in this regard. (Je suis heureux de vous informer que mon gouvernement n’admet pas à cet égard la maniére de voir de la précédente administration.) Nevertheless it will not fail to provoke a decision of the Corps Législatif upon the question. (Toutefois, il ne manquera pas de provoquer tine décision du Corps Législatif sur la question.)

Be pleased to accept, Mr. Minister, the assurances of my very high consideration.

  • H. PRICE.
  • Mr. E. D. Bassett,
    Minister Resident of the United States.