Office of the Historian

838.00/3000: Telegram

The Minister in Haiti (Munro) to the Acting Secretary of State

Port-au-Prince, July 14, 1931—7 p.m.
[Received July 15—2:24 a.m.]

78. We have made substantial progress toward a Haitianization agreement. The principal points still unsettled are:

1.
Whether the American sanitary authorities shall have actual administrative control Port au Prince and Cape Haitien or whether they shall simply give advice to the Haitian Health Service which the latter would be obliged to accept. I am insisting upon full administrative control since any other arrangement would simply cause conflicts and loss of efficiency.
2.
The Haitian Government still insists on the abrogation of the Agreement of 1918 regarding the visa of the Financial Adviser on expenditures. I presume that the Department still wishes me to insist on the maintenance, intact, of the Financial Service pending the negotiations of the new financial agreement.
3.
The Haitian Government objects strenuously to the payment of an indemnity to the noncommissioned personnel in the Public Works Service. They point out that several have already been dismissed without indemnity. Since it is true that the position of these experts is different from that of the treaty engineers and the Service Technique employees I am inclined to make a concession on this point if necessary.
4.
I am also inclined to accede to the demand for a Haitian co-Director in the Internal Revenue Service provided that this official exerts no real authority.
5.
Pointing to the recommendation of the Forbes Commission on this subject the Haitian Government proposes a statement that the two Governments will “continue discussions regarding military disoccupation”. I see no objection to this.

Will the Department please advise me as soon as possible of its views on these points and especially whether I shall insist finally and definitely upon the acceptance of our views with regard to the questions reported in paragraphs 1 and 2 above.

Munro