838.51/4025

The Chargé in Haiti ( Sparks ) to the Secretary of State

No. 989

Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of the letter21 relative to the Haitian Communes and communal revenues which I addressed to President Vincent in compliance with the Department’s instruction No. 451 of August 9, 1940, together with a copy of the reply and English translation which the President made under date of August 30, 1940.21 An examination of the President’s lengthy memorandum reveals an endeavor to demonstrate:—

1.
That by law and tradition the Haitian Communes are autonomous;
2.
That enabling legislation to utilize communal revenues for budgetary purposes would be unconstitutional;
3.
That for political reasons no one in or out of the Government would be prepared to propose and approve such legislation; and
4.
That, if 1,250,000 gourdes of the communal revenues were utilized to help balance the national budget, the remaining revenues would be insufficient to cover the operating expenses of the Communes.

[Page 899]

The President declares, therefore, that the means of balancing the budget must be found elsewhere and that he feels that this can be accomplished by a greater reduction in salaries and other appropriations.

The President also discusses at some length and concludes that a loan to the Communes, the service on which would be paid from the communal revenues, would not be contrary to the provisions of Article 17 of the Accord of August 7, 1933, and that it would not be necessary to obtain the accord of the Fiscal Representative. It is felt that the best reply to this assertion of the President would be on purely economic grounds, as set forth in the Legation’s despatch No. 939 of July 22, 1940, namely, that the communal revenues are in local currency which would have to be converted into foreign currency for the service on a foreign loan of the Communes, and that this exchange operation would completely exhaust the limited foreign currency availabilities of the country which today, because of the drastic shrinkage in Haitian export values, are not believed to be sufficient to service in full Haiti’s existing commitments abroad. Further arguments which might be used to refute the position taken by President Vincent are contained in the opinion rendered by the Legal Adviser of the Office of the Fiscal Representative, a copy of which with English translation, together with the covering letter from the Fiscal Representative, are enclosed.22

In the latter part of the Memorandum President Vincent asserts that the improvement of sanitary and other conditions in the Communes is essential in the general public interest and in the development of the Haitian tourist trade. He states that these improvements will cost approximately $3,500,000, but that the Communes individually are financially unable to assume this obligation. It is for this reason that the Government is interested in obtaining the necessary funds, and President Vincent proposes the consolidation of the communal revenues and the earmarking of a part thereof for the service of the loan. He concludes that, since he is convinced that the American Government will support this proposal, he has instructed the Haitian Minister in Washington to present it and discuss the terms with the Export-Import Bank. This matter is discussed more fully in my despatch No. 990 of September 7, 1940.23

There are two matters in the President’s memorandum of August 30th which deserve special attention. On page 5 at the bottom and at the top of page 6 of both the original French and the translation the President states that Mr. Mayer admits the constitutional principle of autonomy of the Communes. This is not correct. Apparently the [Page 900] President is referring to the fourth paragraph of the letter sent to him pursuant to the Department’s instruction No. 451 of August 9, 1940, in which it is stated “… prevent the Communes, even granted they were autonomous,…”.24

The second statement the President makes which is not in strict accordance with the facts is found in the two paragraphs beginning on the lower part of page 6 and continuing on page 7 of both the original French and the translation, where he says that, as a result of the long discussion between him, Mr. de la Rue and myself, he finally convinced us, Mr. de la Rue and myself, of the constitutional obstacle to transferring communal revenues to the Treasury.

Respectfully yours,

Edward J. Sparks
  1. Not printed.
  2. Not printed.
  3. None printed.
  4. Infra.
  5. Omissions indicated in the original despatch.