838.51/3629: Telegram
The Minister in Haiti (Mayer) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2 p.m.]
65. An official note dated June 1425 has been received from the Haitian Government stating that the conditions which prompted Haiti to request a moratorium on part of the amortization of the loan of 1922 have not changed for the better in the meantime and that accordingly a renewal of the moratorium is requested for the next fiscal year. In making this request the Haitian Government confirms its desire to continue to execute all the engagements expressed in its note of January 11, 1938. A copy of a letter from the Fiscal Representative to the Minister of Finance concerning estimates of receipts for the fiscal year 1938–39—accompanies Leger’s note of June 14.
Copy of note is being forwarded in air mail today and translation and accompanying documents will follow Friday.
Does the Department desire the Legation to draft a reply for submission to it, or will the Department itself send us the reply it desires made?
[Page 596]De la Rue has telegraphed Pixley that he cannot initiate discussions with Protective Council of Bondholders until he has been advised that an official request of the Haitian Government for the extension of the moratorium has been received by the Legation. The above note would seem to be what de la Rue feels he requires. In the absence of any instructions from the Department that formalities are necessary prior to the initiating of de la Rue’s discussions with Bondholders Protective Council (please see the Legation’s despatch No. 139 of April 21, 1938) we have assumed that de la Rue has ample authority from the Haitian Government and the Department to proceed.