838.51/2332: Telegram
The Chargé in Haiti (McGurk) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 27—6:30 a.m.]
115. Department’s telegram No. 68, September 25, 6 p.m. At 11 o’clock this morning I communicated to the President the sense of the Department’s telegrams Nos. 65 and 67.61 The Minister of Foreign Affairs was also present. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President objected strongly to our taking a position which they stated [Page 526] would deprive many Haitians of a livelihood by requiring a cut in the budget to make it balance and that no government had succeeded in its budget and that the Haitian Government found itself in the same position. When I pointed out the delay that the Government had brought about by not making an effort to obtain the accord of the Financial Adviser and attitude all during the Haitianization negotiations in insisting upon compliance by the Haitian Government with its commitments, the Minister of Foreign Affairs accused me of recrimination. He added that the Government had made its two proposals and that on the basis of those something must be done and he then spoke very bitterly of our intention to take drastic action for the sake of a few hundred thousand dollars of Haitian Government money which they had the right to use. I said that we had instructions to discuss technical particulars right here and that we were willing to do so and suggested a conference for Monday morning which was arranged to include Pixley, Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and myself.
On the question of the payments to the retiring treaty officials the Minister reiterated his statement that payments of indemnities could only be made under the transitory article of the new Law of Expenditures despite my statements to the contrary. The President then said that he thought some arrangement could be made whereby the payments could be made on the 30th and the covering action taken afterwards.
The President had very little to say throughout the conference.
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