738.3915/309
The Chargé in the Dominican Republic (Frost) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 16.]
Sir: Having taken occasion this morning to pay my respects to the Haitian Minister, Mr. Dejean, who returned last evening from Port-au-Prince, I have the honor to report that in a conversation which ensued Mr. Dejean expressed himself as quite optimistic over the prospects of a prompt solution of the Haitian-Dominican boundary question.
According to Mr. Dejean, the conversations between President Borno and President Vasquez, as well as between high officials of the respective governments, were very frank and friendly, and it is his belief that for the first time there is the proper disposition on the part of the Dominican Government to effect a solution of this long-standing question. Negotiations will proceed on the basis of the so-called American line, which is the status of present occupation and with a recognition that mutual accommodation will be necessary. The spirit of the Treaty of 187487 will be invoked.
It is the hope of the Haitian Minister that an agreement will have been reached before the time of the visit of President Borno to this country. He considers it very desirable that the agreement be reached wholly by direct negotiations and the expression of this thought on his part enabled me again to express the interest which the Department has in a friendly solution of the question, and its hope that solution can be achieved through direct negotiations between the two parties. Mr. Dejean stated that in the possible event of arbitration being necessary, appeal would naturally be made to [Page 346] the American Government, but also frankly observed that he thought the reception of the agreement by certain elements of the Dominican public would be more favorable if American arbitration proved to be unnecessary. He emphasized the value, however, of an occasional expression of interest by the Department of State in an adjustment of this question, and stated that it is his belief that previous expressions of that nature to the Dominican Government had been of considerable assistance in promoting a disposition on their part to find a solution.
Mr. Dejean will undertake the negotiations with the Dominican Government, and the Legation will be informed of the progress made.
I have [etc.]
- Jacques Nicolas Léger, Recueil des Traite’s et Conventions de la République d’Haїti (Port-au-Prince, 1891), p. 119.↩