No. 177.
Mr. Bassett to Mr. Fish.
Legation of
the United States,
Port au Prince,
Hayti, September 16, 1876.
(Received October 7.)
No. 473.]
Sir: Inviting your reference to my No. 457 of the
21st of June last, which related to a proposed termination of our treaty
with Hayti, I have the honor to state that, on the 18th of August ultimo, I
addressed a note (inclosure 1) to the Haytian minister of foreign affairs,
calling his attention to the dispatch of April 4, 1876, (see inclosure A to
my No. 448 of the 10th of that month,) from his department, and to another
dispatch of June 10, 1876, (see inclosure A to my said No. 457,) from his
immediate predecessor, the former notifying me of this government’s wish and
purpose to terminate our treaty, and the latter denying that such was either
the wish or the purpose of the then existing provisional government, and
asking him to be pleased, now that a definitive government is established,
to give me explicit and reliable information, on the subject.
To my note I have just now received the minister’s acknowledgment, (inclosure
2,) from which it will be seen that he not only announces to me that “the
disposition of the actual government of the republic (of Hayti) is to
continue the observance of the treaty,” and at the same time states that it
is prepared to conform itself to the forty-second article of the treaty, but
also expresses a readiness to defer to our wishes in the matter of any
further treaty provisions,
I may observe that the minister’s dispatch, as well as inclosure A to my No.
457, seems fully to confirm the idea advanced in my No. 448, seems also to
be satisfactory as to this government’s desire for the continuance of the
treaty, and to open the way for the concluding and signing of the consular
convention authorized by your No. 122 of October 18, 1872.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 473.]
Legation of the United States,
Port au Prince, August 18,
1876.
Sir: A dispatch addressed to me on the 4th of
April last by the then secretary of state, Mr. Excellent, gave me formal
notice of the intention of the government of Hayti to terminate the
treaty concluded between the United States and Hayti on the 3d of
November, 1864, according to the terms of the 42d article thereof. “Upon
the overthrow of the Domingue administration and the establishment of
the provisional government, I brought the dispatch to the attention of
your immediate predecessor, Mr. H. Price, who wrote me a note dated June
10, 1876, in which the idea is conveyed to me that the provisional
government was not in favor of the proposed termination of the
treaty.
These two communications, which I have already forwarded to my
government, seem to leave the matter in an unsettled condition. I would
therefore thank you, Mr. Minister, if you will have the goodness, now
that a definite government is fully established, to convey to me
authentic intelligence of the positive disposition of your government
relative to the subject.
I avail myself of this occasion to salute you, Mr. Minister, with my most
distinguished consideration.
Hon. L. Etheart,
Secretary of State.
[Page 338]
[Inclosure 2 in No.
473.—Translation.]
Bureau
of Foreign Affairs,
Port au
Prince, September 16,
1876.
Mr. Minister: I received the letter which you
did me the honor to address to me on the 18th of August ultimo, to
communicate to me the one which the then secretary of state, Mr.
Excellent, wrote to you on the 4th of April last, notifying you of the
intention of the preceding government to terminate the treaty concluded
between Hayti and the United States, and also the one of the Counsellor
H. Price, dated the 10th of June last, informing you of the contrary
intention of the provisional government.
By reason of this difference of view, which leaves, as you truly say, the
question in an undecided condition, I have the honor to announce to you,
in reply to your demand, that the disposition of the actual government
of the republic is to continue the observance of the treaty, and that in
all respects it will strictly conform itself to the terms of the
forty-second article.
Meanwhile, Mr. Minister, if the government of the Union manifests the
desire to arrive at new conventions, it will be easy, I believe, as soon
as you shall have made these communications to me, to determine between
ourselves the necessary bases, so as to come to a good end.
Be pleased to accept, Mr. Minister, the new assurances of my very high
consideration.
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs,
- L. ETHEART.
- Mr. E. D. Bassett,
Minister Resident of the United States,
Port au Prince.
