837.51/750
The Representative on Special Mission in Cuba (Crowder) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 10.]
Dear Mr. Secretary: In my despatch of March 25th, 1922, paragraph 3, I gave notice of my intention to ask for the Department’s approval of certain demands which I thought should be made upon the Zayas Administration. I said that I would probably begin with a demand for reorganization and reform of the National Lottery which I conceived to be of greater moment than any other reform to be made. At the opening of Congress on April 3rd, President Zayas communicated at great length his views and gave great prominence to the enactment of a proper Budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Because of this fact, I find it necessary to depart from the order in which I proposed to submit the Memoranda as announced in my prior despatch of March 25th and commence with the Memorandum upon the Budget hereto appended marked “A”.20
The Department will take note of the fact that in this attached Memorandum I have spoken severe criticism of the Cuban Congress with special emphasis on the most vulnerable point, namely, their repeated failures to enact the annual budgets. I am convinced that nothing less severe or less insistent will be effective, and I am quite certain that in the form I have submitted it, it will be effective to secure the enactment of an economical Budget and the necessary closely related legislation. If the attached memorandum is approved by the Department and I am notified thereof, I shall send in almost immediately a second memorandum, outlining the duties of the President in framing the Budget and listing the specific reforms and reductions obviously necessary to be made if we are to have a properly balanced Budget—reforms and reductions which have been defeated thus far by considerations of political expediency. In succeeding Memoranda yet to be formulated and submitted to the Department, my effort will be to stimulate both the Executive and Legislative branches into that constructive action necessary to clean up the situation as far as possible between now and June 30th.
This letter goes forward with tomorrow’s mail (Thursday), and should reach Washington Saturday afternoon. In due course it will be before the Department on Monday, April 10th. If approved by the Department, I request notice of such approval by telegram, if practicable, in order that I may select the opportune moment for presenting the Memorandum, which I think will be early next week [Page 1019] in order that the President may utilize the remaining days of the Holy Week recess which the Cuban Congress has voted in giving to leaders information of the contents of the Memorandum.
Very respectfully,
- Not printed.↩