837.113/540

The Secretary of State to President Roosevelt

My Dear Mr. President: I submit herewith for your consideration and, if you approve, your signature, a draft of a Proclamation designed to place this Government in a position to supervise and control the exportation of arms and munitions of war from the United States to Cuba, with a view to enabling the Cuban Government to maintain peace and tranquillity in that country.

I respectfully invite your attention to Article II of the Convention between the United States and Cuba to Suppress Smuggling, signed at Habana March 11, 1926,81 which reads in part as follows:

“The High Contracting Parties agree that clearance of shipments of merchandise by water, air, or land, from any of the ports of either country to a port of entry of the other country, shall be denied when [Page 186] such shipment comprises articles the importation of which is prohibited or restricted in the country to which such shipment is destined, unless in this last case there has been a compliance with the requisites demanded by the laws of both countries.[”]

The laws of Cuba restrict the importation of arms and munitions of all kinds by requiring an import permit for each shipment.

There would not appear to be any legal means by which this Government can effectively carry out its treaty obligations with respect to the traffic in arms and munitions between the United States and Cuba, unless a proclamation is issued pursuant to the Joint Resolution of Congress of January 31, 1922.83

The Cuban Government, through its Ambassador in Washington, has expressed to this Government its approval of this action.

I feel that, in conformity with our policy of the good neighbor, we should proceed accordingly.

The action which I recommend is by no means novel or unprecedented, as is indicated by the following table of Proclamations which have been issued by your predecessors, pursuant to the Joint Resolution of Congress of January 31, 1922, and the similar Joint Resolution of March 14, 191284 which it superseded.

Brazil: Proclamation October 22, 1930.85
Revoked March 2, 1931.
China: Proclamation March 4, 1922.86
Still in effect.
Cuba: Proclamation May 2, 1924.87
Revoked August 29, 1924.
Honduras: Proclamation March 22, 1924.88
Still in effect.
Mexico: Proclamation March 14, 1912.89
Revoked February 3, 1914.
Proclamation October 19, 1915.90
Revoked January 31, 1922.
Proclamation January 7, 1924.91
Revoked July 18, 1929.
Nicaragua: Proclamation September 15, 1926.92
Still in effect.

If this Proclamation meets with your approval, I shall, as soon as it is promulgated, issue regulations prescribing that shipments of [Page 187] arms and munitions to Cuba shall be limited to those for which a license has been issued by the Department of State and that such licenses shall not be issued except upon the request of the Cuban Ambassador in Washington.

I am, my dear Mr. President,

Faithfully yours,

Cordell Hull
  1. Foreign Relations, 1926, vol. ii, p. 23.
  2. 42 Stat. 361.
  3. 37 Stat. 630.
  4. 46 Stat. 3036.
  5. 42 Stat. 2264; see also Foreign Relations, 1922, vol. i, pp. 725 ff.
  6. 43 Stat. 1946.
  7. 43 Stat. 1942; see also Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. ii, pp. 321 ff.
  8. 37 Stat. 1733; Foreign Relations, 1912, p. 745.
  9. 39 Stat. 1756; see also Foreign Relations, 1915, pp. 780 ff.
  10. 43 Stat. 1934; see also Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. ii, pp. 428 ff.
  11. 44 Stat. 2625.