838.51/1608
The Secretary of the French Embassy (Henry) to the Chief of the Division of Latin American Affairs, Department of State (White)
My Dear Mr. White: I beg to refer to the conversation we just had concerning the payment of the interest on the bonds of the Haitian 5 percent Foreign Gold Loan of 1910.
You will recall that on May 12, the Secretary of State, replying to the French Ambassador’s note of April 10, 1923,2 stated the reasons why, in the opinion of the American Government, the interest of the loan should not be paid in gold coin or in paper francs in an amount based on the current rate of exchange of the dollar, as claimed by the Bank of the Parisian Union acting as the fiscal agent of the loan.
I beg to confirm to you that this Embassy has just received a communication from the French Foreign Office informing us that the Bank of the Parisian Union, not having been able to reach an agreement on the subject with the Haitian Government, recently wrote a letter to the Minister of Finance in Haiti requesting that the difference be submitted to an arbitration.
It is the opinion of the French Government that bonds-holders cannot be deprived from asking for that legal way of settling the difference with the Haitian Government and that, consequently, they approve of the request made by the Bank of the Parisian Union.
Believe me [etc.]
- French Ambassador’s note not printed. For text of the Secretary’s reply of May 12, 1923, see ibid., p. 415.↩