Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 3, 1912

File No. 738.3915/179.]

The American Minister to Haiti to the Secretary of State.

No. 1138.]

American Legation,
Port au Prince, October 10, 1912.

Sir: Referring to the Department’s telegram of September 24th, I have the honor to enclose herewith copies of the correspondence passed between this Legation and the Haitian Government regarding the temporary frontier line between the Haitian and Dominican Republics.

I have [etc.]

H. W. Furniss.

[Inclosure 1.]

The American Minister to the Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs.

No. 658.]

American Legation,
Port au Prince, September 25, 1912.

Sir: I am instructed by cablegram received from my Government to-day, to hand to your excellency the following: [quoting the instruction of the 24th September]

Copies of the maps above referred to have been transmitted by the Department of State to this Legation by mail, and as soon as received will be forwarded to your excellency.

In the meanwhile accept [etc.]

H. W. Furniss.

[Inclosure 2.—Translation.]

The Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs to the American Minister.

Foreign Office,
Port au Prince, October 8, 1912.

Mr. Minister: I have had the honor to receive your note No. 658 of September 26th [sic] last, by which you have kindly transmitted to me in the name of your Government the following communication: [quoting it]

In reply I can not but take note of the decision of which you have kindly informed me, and which the United States, in its laudable earnest desire to be useful, has taken without having had time to ascertain the sentiment of the Republic of Haiti on the subject. It is well understood that this measure, thus decided upon without our participation, can in no wise prejudice the rights of the Haitian people in their present possessions, particularly at such points in the south as La Hatte, Figuier, Roseau, Banane, Bois d’Orme, Tête-à-l’Eau, Bois Tombé, not to mention those which they have always occupied and now occupy, and which have never ceased to form a portion of their territory.

And the patrol that is to be reestablished on the frontier can concern only the Dominicans who have authorized it, doubtless taking into account the provisions of Article 3 of the treaty that they signed with Haiti in 1874.¹ I am, however, happy to ascertain that this patrol will be instructed to respect the present limits of the two republics. My Government, proposing soon to establish interior custom houses, will hasten to give instructions in the same sense to the special police that will shortly be organized on the frontier.

Therefore, without desiring for the moment to examine whether or not the subject matter of your note enters into the powers of a mediator, I do not hesitate to acknowledge the generous motive that animates the United States, and I seize with pleasure this occasion to renew [etc.]

J. N. Léger.

1. Article 3 of the treaty between Haiti and Santo Domingo of November 9, 1874, reads in translation as follows: “The two contracting parties obligate themselves to maintain with all their force, with all their power, the integrity of their respective territories, not to cede, encumber or alienate in favor of any foreign power their territory or any part thereof or the adjacent islands dependent thereon. They engage likewise neither to request nor consent to any annexation or foreign domination.” (File No. 738.3915/186.