[Enclosure—Translation]
The Haitian Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Léger)
to the American Minister (Mayer)
Port-au-Prince, June 14,
1938.
Mr. Minister: The economic and financial
situation of the Republic of Haiti, not having been modified to any
extent since my letter of January 11, 1938, and the economic
perspective for the fiscal year 1938–39 not leaving grounds for hope
that any notable betterment may come about, my Government finds
itself obliged to ask your Government to be good enough to prolong
the stipulation of the Accord of January 13, 1938, for a new period
of time, running from October 1, 1938, to September 30, 1939.
The world market for coffee has scarcely changed and the situation is
still the same as that depicted in my letter of January 11. From
that date to today prices have not been maintained at the levels
which we hoped for and in consequence the fiscal receipts for the
current
[Page 597]
year will attain
with difficulty the sum of Gdes. 28,000,000 in spite of the fact
that I had foreseen Gdes. 28,690,000 in my letter.
The Haitian Government has realized the economies in its budget to
which it engaged itself January 11, 1938, and naturally will take
the necessary measures to face its expenses during the end of the
present fiscal year by means of its available funds. It is evident
that in these conditions the treasury will not possess any
appreciable reserve at the begining of the next fiscal year.
The office of the Fiscal Representative estimates the ways and means
of the next fiscal year at the sum of Gdes. 29,189,000. This sum is
clearly insufficient to permit the Government to maintain the
administrative services necessary to public order, and its economic
stability, and at the same time to assure the full amortization of
the loan of 1922.
In begging your Government to accept to prolong its Accord of January
13, 1938, for the period of one year, the Haitian Government
confirms its determination to continue to execute during the period
of the prolongation all the engagements expressed in my letter of
January 11, 1938.
I have the honor to enclose, under this cover, a copy of a letter
from the Fiscal Representative dated today,26 addressed to the Secretary of State
for Finance concerning the estimates of receipts, during the fiscal
year 1938–39.
I seize the occasion [etc.]
