File No. 839.51/1342.
The Secretary of State to the Charge d’Affaires of the Dominican Republic.
Washington, June 1, 1914.
Sir: The Department acknowledges the receipt of your note of May 26, 1914, with which you enclosed the English text of a note which substitutes the one dated March 20, 1914, addressed by his excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Santo Domingo to the American Minister at Santo Domingo, in reference to the suggestion of the Dominican Government that a financial expert be designated by the United States to go to Santo Domingo.
In reply, the Department is pleased to inform you that the President of the United States has accepted, with pleasure, the suggestion that he designate a competent financial expert to go to Santo Domingo to aid the proper officials of your Government to settle debts, to devise an adequate system of public accountability, and to conserve and put into execution the original agreement of increasing the revenues and to adjust them to the expenses, all this with the view [Page 236] of assuring order and stability over the finances and to prevent deficits.
In this connection, the Department desires to point out that it understands the statement, “to conserve and put into execution the original agreement of increasing the revenues “to mean, in part, that the financial expert is thereby given the right to conceive and put into effect additional means for increasing public revenues.
Furthermore, the Department desires to inform you that in accordance with your note, the President of the United States has deemed it desirable to designate Mr. Charles M. Johnston as Financial Expert, who will exercise all the powers of Comptroller. This Department feels confident that Mr. Johnston will execute his trust in a manner most acceptable to the Dominican Government, and he is recommended to it as a gentleman in whom may be imposed all confidence.
Accept [etc.]