839.51/4895
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by Mr. Emilio G. Collado of the Division of the American Republics
| Participants: | Ambassador Wilson |
| Mr. Harold D. Finley, in Ciudad Trujillo. | |
| Mr. E. G. Collado |
In accordance with our phone conversation of the morning,24 I called Mr. Finley to inform him of the decisions which were taken in the consultation with Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Duggan.25
I informed Mr. Finley that the Department was prepared to agree with the Dominican’s request that the notes regarding pensions and the floating debt stand on their own feet and not be made an integral part of the convention. To do this Article VIII would be omitted. In order to make the exchange of notes regarding the salary of the representative an integral part of the convention, appropriate words would be added in Article III. Regarding the amount of the salary and expenses of the representative, I indicated that the Department was agreeable to a $5,000 maximum for the expenses if Ambassador Wilson felt that this was appropriate, and that we hope that it would be possible to get a suitable representative at a salary that would not be too great a burden to the Dominicans. The Department felt it desirable to insert in the exchange of notes “not to exceed $10,000” with the further understanding that the matter would be subject to further discussion at the time of appointing the representative.
With respect to the question of the floating debt mentioned in Mr. Wilson’s 155, I indicated that it was the Department’s view that [Page 824] he should present only the American claims, but that the Department felt that it would be generally desirable if all the claims were cleared up.
Mr. Finley also stated that with respect to the acceleration clause that he and the Ambassador recommended the use of the figures earlier mentioned, that is $12,500,000. He added that the Dominican negotiator would not agree to any lower figure, and that he and the Ambassador felt that these figures were justified. I stated that I believed that the Department would accept their recommendation.
Mr. Finley indicated that on the basis of these instructions he felt that the negotiation could be concluded almost immediately and expressed the Ambassador’s appreciation for the cooperation of the Department in the matter. Mr. Finley stated that he and the Ambassador had reservations to leave Ciudad Trujillo, he for Port-au-Prince and the Ambassador for Miami. He added that he would stay for a brief period of time in Haiti, leaving on the Panama line on September 17.
Ambassador Wilson then took the phone to express his appreciation and to ask if a settlement of the floating debt over five years would appear adequate to the Department. I stated that it was my impression that the early discussions of the floating debt had contemplated a period of five years and that I believed that the Department would accept any reasonable terms as to the details of the settlement.