837.00/1952b
The Acting Secretary of State to the Judge Advocate General, War Department (Crowder)
Sir: By order of the President, you are hereby directed to proceed at once to Cuba as his Personal Representative on special mission. You will proceed to Havana on the U.S.S. Minnesota.
Upon your arrival in Havana, you are instructed to obtain at the earliest opportunity an interview with President Menocal and to inform him that the Government of the United States is most gravely concerned because of the very serious political and financial conditions now obtaining in Cuba. As you are aware, the Presidential elections were held two months ago and the result of those elections is as yet unknown. So far as the Department is informed, the provisional returns in all six provinces have been posted by the Provincial Electoral Boards. These returns show certain colleges in which no elections were held, others where the elections have been [Page 42] declared null and void, and a large number of colleges where the results have been protested by one or the other of the political parties to the courts. The total number of colleges protested and appealed to the courts is sufficient to place the result of the Presidential election in doubt, and from all reports received by the Department there has not only been shown no progress by the courts in deciding these appealed cases, but an indefinite delay in reaching a decision is indicated. It is possible that the final decision may be so much delayed as to necessitate an ad interim administration. It is desired that you bring to the attention of President Menocal in the most forcible terms the grave apprehension which this truly alarming condition is causing the Government of the United States.
You should likewise state to him that in the opinion of this Government there appears to have been general failure on the part of the Cuban courts to hasten their procedure in the determination of the contested election cases and that so far as this Government is aware, there has been no indication of any desire on the part of the Cuban Government that special efforts be used to obtain a speedy settlement of the election contests in accordance with the spirit of the Cuban Election Law. It has been represented to this Government, unofficially, that court rules of procedure are obstructing the resolution by the Cuban courts of the contested election cases. Accepting this view, the Government of the United States is convinced that if both political parties in Cuba are genuinely solicitous for a speedy decision by the courts of those cases, they could, by stipulations filed with the courts, greatly expedite the procedure and final determination of the contested election cases, especially if the Cuban Government were acting in harmony with the political parties.
You should not only advise President Menocal of the above, but you should likewise make it altogether clear that the unsettled Presidential election in Cuba has the most important bearing upon the flotation of the proposed Cuban loan in this country55 and that American bankers can naturally not be indifferent to the present disturbed conditions, particularly when there is no certainty who the successor to the Presidency will be and when the situation is such that the possibility of serious disturbances is by no means remote.
In conclusion, you may advise the President that the Government of the United States is unwilling to approve any increase in the national debt of Cuba until it is assured that the Presidential succession will be legally and peacefully determined, and finds itself, therefore, unable to take any further action in furthering the negotiations for the proposed loan or to devote any more assistance towards the settlement of the Cuban financial situation unless it has positive [Page 43] proof that the Cuban courts, with the cooperative assistance of the Government, will faithfully carry out the provisions of the Election Law and will resolve, with the utmost expedition, the contested election cases.
The Department of State will leave to your discretion the making of any further representations to the President in accordance with the desire of this Government that President Menocal be fully advised of the apprehension prevailing here because of the unsettled conditions now existing in Cuba. The Government of the United States will be glad if an opportunity were found to impress upon President Menocal the urgent necessity of immediate improvement in the congested condition of the Port of Havana and in initiating immediate reforms in the Department of Sanitation and of Public Works.
In confirmation of a conversation had with you and in accordance with instructions sent to the American Legation at Havana for communication to the Government of Cuba, it is thought to be particularly desirable that emphasis be laid upon the fact that the present situation in Cuba is proving harmful to commercial intercourse between the United States and Cuba and to the general relations between the two countries and that the resultant detriment to the prosperity of Cuba cannot but be a matter of close concern to the United States.
I am [etc.]