Part 4

III. The President of the Republic of Haiti covenants that no rights, privileges, or facilities of any description whatsoever will be granted, sold, leased, or otherwise accorded directly or indirectly by the Government of Haiti concerning the occupation or use of the Mole Saint-Nicolas to any foreign government or to a national or the nationals of any other foreign government.

IV. The President of the Republic of Haiti covenants within six months of the signing of this convention to sign a convention of arbitration with the Powers concerned for the settlement of the diplomatic claims pending, which arbitration convention will provide for the equal treatment of all claimants, no special privileges being granted to any of them.

V. In case of difficulties regarding the interpretation of the clauses of the present convention, the high contracting parties agree to submit the difference to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.

Mr. Fuller had suggested a further modification which the Haitian Government refused. It changed the final paragraph of Article II to read: "The American forces which have in the given circumstance cooperated with the Haitian troops, shall, when order has been reestablished, be retired," etc. His other suggestions were accepted with unimportant verbal changes.

The Haitian-United States Convention

The convention between the United States and Haiti was ratified on September 16, 1915, after the occupation of the country by American troops. In its final form it is in interesting contrast with the suggested agreements printed above.

The United States and the Republic of Haiti, desiring to confirm and strengthen the amity existing between them by the most cordial cooperation in measures for their common advantage, and the Republic of Haiti desiring to remedy the present condition of its revenues and finances, to maintain the tranquillity of the Republic, to carry out plans for the economic development and prosperity of the Republic and its people, and the United States being in full sympathy with all of these aims and objects and desiring to contribute in all proper ways to their accomplishment;

The United States and the Republic of Haiti have resolved to conclude a convention with these objects in view, and have appointed for that purpose plenipotentiaries:

The President of the Republic of Haiti, Mr. Louis Borno, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Public Instruction,

The President of the United States, Mr. Robert Beale Davis, Jr., Charge d'Affaires of the United States of America;

Who, having exhibited to each other their respective powers, which are seen to be full in good and true form, have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE I. The Government of the United States will, by its good offices, aid the Haitian Government in the proper and efficient development of its agricultural, mineral, and commercial resources and in the establishment of the finances of Haiti on a firm and solid basis.

ARTICLE II. The President of Haiti shall appoint, upon nomination by the President of the United States, a General Receiver and such aids and employees as may be necessary, who shall collect, receive, and apply all customs duties on imports and exports accruing at the several customs-houses and ports of entry of the Republic of Haiti.

The President of Haiti shall appoint, upon nomination by the President of the United States, a Financial Adviser who shall be an officer attached to the Ministry of Finance, to give effect to whose proposals and labors the Minister will lend efficient aid. The Financial Adviser shall devise an adequate system of public accounting, aid in increasing the revenues and adjusting them to the expenses, inquire into the validity of the debts of the Republic, enlighten both governments with reference to all eventual debts, recommend improved methods of collecting and applying the revenues, and make such other recommendations to the Minister of Finance as may be deemed necessary for the welfare and prosperity of Haiti.

ARTICLE III. The Government of the Republic of Haiti will provide by law or appropriate decrees for the payment of all customs duties to the General Receiver, and will extend to the Receivership, and to the Financial Adviser, all needful aid and full protection in the execution of the powers conferred and duties imposed herein; and the United States on its part will extend like aid and protection.

ARTICLE IV. Upon the appointment of the Financial Adviser, the Government of the Republic of Haiti in cooperation with the Financial Adviser, shall collate, classify, arrange, and make full statement of all the debts of the Republic, the amounts, character, maturity, and condition thereof, and the interest accruing and the sinking fund requisite to their final discharge.

ARTICLE V. All sums collected and received by the General Receiver shall be applied, first to the payment of the salaries and allowances of the General Receiver, his assistants, and employees and expenses of the Receivership, including the salary and expenses of the Financial Adviser, which salaries will be determined by the previous agreement; second, to the interest and sinking fund of the public debt of the Republic of Haiti; and third, to the maintenance of the constabulary referred to in Article X, and then the remainder to the Haitian Government for the purposes of current expenses.

In making these applications the General Receiver will proceed to pay salaries and allowances monthly and expenses as they arise, and on the first of each calendar month will set aside in a separate fund the quantum of the collections and receipts of the previous month.

ARTICLE VI. The expenses of the Receivership, including salaries and allowances of the General Receiver, his assistants, and employees, and the salary and expenses of the Financial Adviser, shall not exceed 5 per cent of the collections and receipts from customs duties, unless by agreement by the two governments.

ARTICLE VII. The General Receiver shall make monthly reports of all collections, receipts, and disbursements to the appropriate officers of the Republic of Haiti and to the Department of State of the United States, which reports shall be open to inspection and verification at all times by the appropriate authorities of each of the said governments.

ARTICLE VIII. The Republic of Haiti shall not increase its public debt, except by previous agreement with the President of the United States, and shall not contract any debt or assume any financial obligation unless the ordinary revenues of the Republic available for that purpose, after defraying the expenses of the Government, shall be adequate to pay the interest and provide a sinking fund for the final discharge of such debt.

ARTICLE IX. The Republic of Haiti will not, without the assent of the President of the United States, modify the customs duties in a manner to reduce the revenues therefrom; and in order that the revenues of the Republic may be adequate to meet the public debt and the expenses of the Government, to preserve tranquillity, and to promote material prosperity, the Republic of Haiti will cooperate with the Financial Adviser in his recommendations for improvement in the methods of collecting and disbursing the revenues and for new sources of needed income.

ARTICLE X. The Haitian Government obligates itself, for the preservation of domestic peace, the security of individual rights, and the full observance of the provisions of this treaty, to create without delay an efficient constabulary, urban and rural, composed of native Haitians. This constabulary shall be organized and officered by Americans appointed by the President of Haiti, upon nomination by the President of the United States. The Haitian Government shall clothe these officers with the proper and necessary authority and uphold them in the performance of their functions. These officers will be replaced by Haitians as they, by examination conducted under direction of a board to be selected by the senior American officer of this constabulary in the presence of a representative of the Haitian Government, are found to be qualified to assume such duties. The constabulary herein provided for shall, under the direction of the Haitian Government, have supervision and control of arms and ammunition, military supplies and traffic therein, throughout the country. The high contracting parties agree that the stipulations in this article are necessary to prevent factional strife and disturbances.

ARTICLE XI. The Government of Haiti agrees not to surrender any of the territory of the Republic of Haiti by sale, lease, or otherwise, or jurisdiction over such territory, to any foreign government or Power, nor to enter into any treaty or contract with any foreign Power or Powers that will impair or tend to impair the independence of Haiti.

ARTICLE XII. The Haitian Government agrees to execute with the United States a protocol for the settlement, by arbitration or otherwise, of all pending pecuniary claims of foreign corporations, companies, citizens, or subjects against Haiti.

ARTICLE XIII. The Republic of Haiti, being desirous to further the development of its natural resources, agrees to undertake and execute such measures as, in the opinion of the high contracting parties, may be necessary for the sanitation and public improvement of the Republic under the supervision and direction of an engineer or engineers, to be appointed by the President of Haiti upon nomination of the President of the United States, and authorized for that purpose by the Government of Haiti.

ARTICLE XIV. The high contracting parties shall have authority to take such steps as may be necessary to insure the complete attainment of any of the objects comprehended in this treaty; and should the necessity occur, the United States will lend an efficient aid for the preservation of Haitian independence and the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty.

ARTICLE XV. The present treaty shall be approved and ratified by the high contracting parties in conformity with their respective laws, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged in the City of Washington as soon as may be possible.

ARTICLE XVI. The present treaty shall remain in full force and virtue for the term of ten years, to be counted from the day of exchange of ratifications, and further for another term of ten years if, for specific reasons presented by either of the high contracting parties, the purpose of this treaty has not been fully accomplished.

In faith whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the present convention in duplicate, in the English and French languages, and have thereunto affixed their seals.

Done at Port-au-Prince (Haiti), the 16th day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifteen.

ROBERT BEALE DAVIS, JR., Charge d'Affaires of the United States

LOUIS BORNO, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Public Instruction

The New Constitution of Haiti

The new Constitution of the Republic of Haiti, ratified under the American Occupation, altered the former Constitution in regard to the important subject of the right of foreigners to hold land. Article 6 of the old Constitution reads:

No one, unless he is a Haitian, may be a holder of land in Haiti, regardless of what his title may be, nor acquire any real estate.

Article 5 of the Constitution of 1918 makes the following provision:

The right to hold property is given to foreigners residing in Haiti, and to societies formed by foreigners, for dwelling purposes and for agricultural, commercial, industrial, or educational enterprises. This right shall be discontinued five years after the foreigner shall have ceased to reside in the country, or when the activities of these companies shall have ceased.

The Haitian President's Proclamation

In the _Moniteur_, official organ of the Republic of Haiti, for September 4, 1915, in a column headed "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," the president of Haiti published a proclamation on the situation arising from the occupation by American troops of the customs-house at Port-au-Prince.

Haitians! At the very moment when the Government, engaged in negotiations to settle the question of the presence of American military forces on Haitian territory, was looking forward to a prompt solution in accordance with law and justice, it finds itself faced with the simple seizure of possession of the customs administration of the capital.

Previously the customs-houses of several other cities of the republic had been occupied in like fashion, and whenever the news of such occupation reached the National Palace or the Department of Finances, it was followed by an energetic protest, demanding that the diplomatic representative of the American Government residing at Port-au-Prince restore the customs-houses and put an end to acts so contrary to the relations at present existing between the Government of Haiti and the Government of the United States of North America.

Haitians! In bringing these facts officially to the attention of the country, I owe it to myself to declare further, in the most formal fashion, to you and to the entire civilized world, that the order to carry out these acts so destructive of the interests, rights, and sovereignty of the Haitian people is not due to anything which can be cited against the patriotism, devotion, spirit of sacrifice, and loyalty of those to whom the destinies of the country have been intrusted. You are the judges of that.

Nor will I conceal the fact that my astonishment is greater because the negotiations, which had been undertaken in the hope of an agreement upon the basis of propositions presented by the American Government itself, after having passed through the ordinary phases of diplomatic discussion, with frankness and courtesy on both sides, have now been relieved of the only obstacles which had hitherto appeared to stand in their way.

Haitians! In this agonizing situation, more than tragic for every truly Haitian soul, the Government, which intends to preserve full national sovereignty, will be able to maintain the necessary resolution only if all are united in exercising their intelligence and energy with it in the present task of saving the nation....

SUDRE DARTIGUENAVE

Given at the National Palace, September 2, 1915, in the 112th year of our independence.

_The following are from the Nation of September 11, 1920_

Why Haiti Has No Budget

At the session of the Haitian National Assembly on August 4, the President of the Republic of Haiti and the Haitian Minister of Finance laid before that body the course of the American Financial Adviser which had made it impossible to submit to the Assembly accounts and budgets in accordance with the Constitution of Haiti and the Haiti-American Convention. The statement which follows is taken from the official Haitian gazette, the _Moniteur_ of August 7.

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT

Gentlemen of the Council of State: On account of unforeseen circumstances it has not been possible for the Government of the Republic to present to you in the course of the session of your high assembly which closes today (August 4) the general accounts of the receipts and expenditures for 1918-1919 and the budget for 1920-1921, in accordance with the Constitution.

It is certainly an exceptional case, the gravity of which will not escape you. You will learn the full details from the report which the Secretary of Finance and Commerce will submit to you, in which it will be shown that the responsibility for it does not fall on the Executive Power....

In the life of every people there come moments when it must know how to be resigned and to suffer. Are we facing one of those moments? The attitude of the Haitian people, calm and dignified, persuades me that, marching closely with the Government of the Republic, there is no suffering which it is not disposed to undergo to safeguard and secure the triumph of its rights.

DARTIGUENAVE

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF FINANCE AND COMMERCE

Gentlemen of the Council of State: Article 116 of the Constitution prescribes in its first paragraph: "The general accounts and the budgets prescribed by the preceding article must be submitted to the legislative body by the Secretary of Finance not later than eight days after the opening of the legislative session."

And Article 2 of the American-Haitian Convention of September 16, 1915, stipulates in its second paragraph: "The President of Haiti shall appoint, on the nomination of the President of the United States, a Financial Adviser, _who shall be a civil servant attached to the Ministry of Finance_, to whom the Secretary shall lend effective aid in the prosecution of his work. The Financial Adviser shall work out a system of public accounting, shall aid in increasing the revenues and in their adjustment to expenditures...."

Since February of this year (1920) the secretaries of the various departments, in order to conform to the letter of Article 116 of the Constitution, and to assure continuity of public service in the matter of receipts and expenditures, set to work at the preparation of the budgets for their departments for 1920-21.

By a dispatch dated March 22, 1920, the Department of Finance sent the draft budgets to Mr. A. J. Maumus, Acting Financial Adviser, for preliminary study by that official. But the Acting Adviser replied to the Department by a letter, of March 29: "I suggest that, in view of the early return of Mr. John McIlhenny, the Financial Adviser, measures be taken to postpone all discussion regarding the said draft budgets between the different departments and the Office [of the Financial Adviser] to permit him to take part in the discussions."

Nevertheless, the regular session was opened on the constitutional date, Monday, April 5, 1920. Mr. John McIlhenny, the titular Financial Adviser, absent in the United States since October, 1919, on a financial mission for the Government, prolonged his stay in America, detained no doubt by the insurmountable difficulties in the accomplishment of his mission (the placing of a Haitian loan on the New York market). Since on the one hand the Adviser could not overcome these difficulties, and on the other hand his presence at Port-au-Prince was absolutely necessary for the preparation of the budget in conformity with the Constitution and the Haitian-American Convention, the Government deemed it essential to ask him to return to Port-au-Prince for that purpose. The Government in so doing secured the good offices of the American Legation, and Mr. McIlhenny returned from the United States about the first of June. The Legislature had already been in session almost two months.

About June 15 the Adviser began the study of the budget with the secretaries. The conferences lasted about twelve days, and in that time, after courteous discussions, after some cuts, modifications, and additions, plans for the following budgets were agreed upon:

1. Ways and Means 2. Foreign Relations 3. Finance and Commerce 4. Interior

On Monday, July 12, at 3.30, the hour agreed upon between the ministers and the Adviser, the ministers met to continue the study of the budget which they wanted to finish quickly.... Between 4 and 4:30 the Secretary of Finance received a letter from the Adviser which reads as follows:

"I find myself obliged to stop all study of the budget until certain affairs of considerable importance for the welfare of the country shall have been finally settled according to the recommendations made by me to the Haitian Government.

"Please accept, Mr. Secretary, the assurance of my highest consideration, JOHN MCILHENNY"

Such an unanticipated and unjustifiable decision on the part of Mr. McIlhenny, an official attached to the Ministry of Finance, caused the whole Government profound surprise and warranted dissatisfaction....

On July 13 the Department of Finance replied to the Financial Adviser as follows:

"I beg to acknowledge your letter of July 12, in which you say, 'I find myself obliged, etc....'

"In taking note of this declaration, the importance and gravity of which certainly cannot escape you, I can only regret in the name of the Government:

"1. That you omitted to tell me with the precision which such an emergency demands what are the affairs of an importance so considerable for the welfare of the country and the settlement of which, according to the recommendations made by you, is of such great moment that you can subordinate to that settlement the continuation of the work on the budget?

"2. That you have taken such a serious step without considering that in so doing you have divested yourself of one of the essential functions which devolves upon you as Financial Adviser attached to the Department of Finance.

"The preparation of the budget of the state constitutes one of the principal obligations of those intrusted with it by law, because the very life of the nation depends upon its elaboration. The Legislature has been in session since April 5 last. By the Constitution the draft budgets and the general accounts should be submitted to the legislative body within eight days after the opening of the session, that is to say by April 13. The draft budgets were sent to your office on March 22.

"By reason of your absence from the country, the examination of these drafts was postponed, the acting Financial Adviser not being willing to shoulder the responsibility; we refer you to his letters of March 29 and of April 17 and 24. Finally ... you came back to Port-au-Prince, and after some two weeks, you began with the secretaries to study the draft budgets.

"The Government therefore experiences a very disagreeable surprise on reading your letter of July 12. It becomes my duty to inform you of that disagreeable surprise, to formulate the legal reservations in the case, and to inform you finally that you bear the sole responsibility for the failure to present the budget in due time. "FLEURY FEQUIERE, Secretary of Finance"