following instructions to his agent at Port-au-Prince, Mr. Webster, then Secretary of State, did not try to conceal his intention of provoking an armed intervention:[1] "The material interests of the three countries (France, Great Britain and the United States)," he wrote, "are largely involved in the restoration and preservation of peace between the contending parties in Santo Domingo. France is a creditor of the Government of the Emperor Soulouque to a large amount. She cannot hope for a discharge of her debt when the resources of his country, instead of being developed by pacific pursuits and in part, at least, applied to that purpose, are checked in their growth and wasted in a war with a conterminous state. Great Britain and France are both interested in securing that great additional demand for their productions which must result from the impulse to be expected for industry in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from a termination of the war; and the United States have a similar interest. … If the Emperor Soulouque shall insist upon maintaining a belligerent attitude until all his demands shall have been satisfied by the opposite party, you will unite with your colleagues in remonstrating against this course on his part. If the remonstrance shall prove to be unavailing, you will signify to the Emperor that you shall give immediate notice to your Government, that the President, with the concurrence of Congress, may adopt such measures, in cooperation with the governments of England and France, as may cause the intervention of the three Powers to be respected."[2]
- ↑ Santo Domingo and the United States, by John Bassett Moore, Review of Reviews, March, 1905, p. 298.
- ↑ "When Mr. Webster wrote these instructions," says Mr. Moore, "Great Britain and France had agreed, if the advice of the Powers was not taken immediately, to institute a hostile blockade of the Haitian ports. In this act of war the President of the United States was unable to take part without the authority of Congress, and it was to this fact that Mr. Webster referred when he stated that, in case the Haitian Government should refuse to yield to remonstrance, the President would lay the matter before Congress, in order that the United States might be enabled to co-operate with the governments of England and France in measures to 'cause the intervention of the three Powers to be respected.'"
