No. 705.
Mr. Bayard to Mr. Preston.
Washington, November 16, 1888.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 13th instant, transmitting copy and original of a letter addressed to the President of the United States by General F. D. Légitime touching his assumption of executive power in Hayti, with request that the same be delivered to the President.
Following established precedents in cases where the titular government of a country with which the United States maintain relations of peace and friendship has yielded to revolution and domestic conflicts of opposing factions have supervened, this Government, while maintaining intercourse with the local authority in possession, reserves its formal recognition of the government, claiming titular succession until it is established.
The reception of General Légitime’s letter by the President is therefore deferred for the present, awaiting the course of events.
It is sincerely hoped that the blessings of law and order under a government satisfactory to the people of Hayti may soon be established in that island.
Accept, etc.,