INTER AMERICAN RELATIONS 130. THE PLATT AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF CUBA [June 13, 1901. House Documents, 57th Congress, 1st Session, 1901-1902, II, 126-127. Also in Translation of the Proposed Constitution for Cuba, the Official Acceptance of the Platt Amendment, and the Electoral Law, 23-24. Published by the Division of Insular Affairs, War Department, November, 1901. Washington.] The Constitutional Convention of Cuba began its sessions at Havana on November 5, 1900. The fundamental law which that body adopted on February 21, 1901, failed to state what the future relations between the United States and Cuba should be. There was accordingly inserted in the army appropriation bill in the Congress of the United States certain clauses describing these relations. The Cuban Constitutional Convention tried in vain to modify these clauses, and on June 12, 1901, made them a part of its constitution. The so-called Platt Amendment (the clauses were inserted at the instance of Senator Platt) is given in full below. It is in the form of a letter from Señor Domingo Méndez Capote, president of the convention, to General Leonard Wood, military governor of Cuba. Honorable Military Governor of Cuba. Havana, June 13, 1901 Honorable Sir: Replying to your official letter dated on the eighth (8th), whereby you forward to the undersigned the report of the Honorable the Secretary of War, dated May 31st last, I have the honor to advise you that at the session held yesterday, June 12th, by the Constitutional Convention, there was taken the following Resolution: The Constitutional Convention, in conformity with the order from the military governor of the island, dated July 25th, 1900, whereby said convention was convened, has determined to add, and does hereby add, to the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, adopted on the 21st of February ultimo, the following Appendix. ARTICLE I. The Government of Cuba shall never enter into any treaty or other compact with any foreign power or powers which will impair or tend to impair the independence of Cuba, nor in any way authorize or permit any foreign power or powers to obtain by colonization or for naval or military purposes, or otherwise, lodgement or control over any portion of said island. ART. II. That said Government shall not assume or contract any public debt to pay the interest upon which, and to make reasonable sinking-fund provision for the ultimate discharge of which the ordinary revenues of the Island of Cuba, after defraying the current expenses of the Government, shall be inadequate. ART. III. That the Government of Cuba consents that the United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris on the United States, now to be assumed and undertaken by the Government of Cuba. ART. IV. That all the acts of the United States in Cuba during the military occupancy of said island shall be ratified and held as valid, and all the rights legally acquired by virtue of said acts shall be maintained and protected. ART. V. That the Government of Cuba will execute, and, as far as necessary, extend the plans already devised, or other plans to be agreed upon, for the sanitation of the cities of the island, to the end that a recurrence of epidemic and infectious diseases may be prevented, thereby assuring protection to the people and commerce of Cuba, as well as to the commerce of the Southern parts of the United States and the people residing therein. ART. VI. The Island of Pines shall be omitted from the boundaries of Cuba specified in the Constitution, the title of ownership thereof being left to future adjustment by treaty. ART. VII. To enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defence, the Cuban Government will sell or lease to the United States the lands necessary for coaling or naval stations, at certain specified points, to be agreed upon with the President of the United States. ART. VIII. The Government of Cuba will embody the foregoing provisions in a permanent treaty with the United States. With the testimony of our greatest consideration, very respectfully, the President, DOMINGO MÉNDEZ CAPOTE 131. LETTER FROM SEÑOR DRAGO TO SEÑOR MEROU ON THE FORCEFUL COLLECTION OF PUBLIC DEBTS [December 29, 1902. Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1903 (1904), 1–5. Published by the Department of State. Washington.] In the letter given below Señor Luis M. Drago, Argentine minister of foreign relations and worship, made certain observations to the Argentine ambassador to the United States, Señor Merou, on the nature of the controversy between Venezuela and Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. The sources of the views expressed in the letter are to be found in the writings of the celebrated Argentine jurist Dr. Cárlos Calvo. The two most famous works of this author are Tratados de la AméricaLatina (Treaties of Latin-America) and Derecho internacional (International Law). The letter contained the basic principles of what came to be called the Calvo-Drago Doctrine. Argentine Republic. Ministry of Foreign Relations and Worship, Mr. Minister: I have received your excellency's telegram of the 20th instant concerning the events that have lately taken place between the Government of the Republic of Venezuela and the Governments of Great Britain and Germany. According to your excellency's information the origin of the disagreement is, in part, the damages suffered by subjects of the claimant nations during the revolutions and wars that have recently occurred within the boundaries of the Republic mentioned, and in part also to the fact that certain payments on the external debt of the nation have not been met at the proper time. Leaving out of consideration the first class of claims the adequate adjustment of which it would be necessary to consult the laws of the several countries, this Government has deemed it expedient to transmit to your excellency some considerations with reference to the forcible collection of the public debt suggested by the events that have taken place. At the outset it is to be noted in this connection that the capitalist who lends his money to a foreign state always takes into account the resources of that country and the probability, greater or less, that the obligation contracted will be fulfilled without delay. All governments thus enjoy different credit according to their degree of civilization and culture and their conduct in business transactions; and these conditions are measured and weighed before making any loan, the terms being made more or less onerous in accordance with the precise data concerning them which banks always have on record. In the first place the lender knows that he is entering into a contract with a sovereign entity, and it is an inherent qualification of all sovereignty that no proceedings for the execution of a judgment may be instituted or carried out against it, since this manner of collection would compromise its very existence and cause the independence and freedom of action of the respective government to disappear. Among the fundamental principles of public international law which humanity has consecrated, one of the most precious is that which decrees that all states, whatever be the force at their disposal, are entities in law, perfectly equal one to another, and mutually entitled by virtue thereof to the same consideration and respect. The acknowledgment of the debt, the payment of it in its entirety, can and must be made by the nation without diminution of its inherent rights as a sovereign entity, but the summary and immediate collection at a given moment, by means of force, would occasion nothing less than the ruin of the weakest nations, and the absorption of their governments, together with all the functions inherent in them, by the mighty of the earth. The principles proclaimed on this continent of America are otherwise. "Contracts between a nation and private individuals are obligatory according to the conscience of the sovereign, and may not be the object of compelling force," said the illustrious Hamilton. "They confer no right of action contrary to the sovereign will." The United States has gone very far in this direction. The eleventh amendment to its Constitution provided in effect, with the unanimous assent of the people, that the judicial power of the nation should not be extended to any suit in law or equity prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. The Argentine Government has made its provinces indictable, and has even adopted the principle that the nation itself may be brought to trial before the supreme court on contracts which it enters into with individuals. What has not been established, what could in no wise be admitted, is that, once the amount for which it may be indebted has been determined by legal judgment, it should be deprived of the right to choose the manner and the time of payment, in which it has as much interest as the creditor himself, or more, since its credit and its national honor are involved therein. This is in no wise a defense for bad faith, disorder, and deliberate and voluntary insolvency. It is intended merely to preserve the dignity of the public international entity which may not thus be dragged into war with detriment to those high ends which determine the existence and liberty of nations. The fact that collection can not be accomplished by means of violence does not, on the other hand, render valueless the acknowledgment of the public debt, the definite obligation of paying it. The State continues to exist in its capacity as such, and sooner or later the gloomy situations are cleared up, resources increase, common aspirations of equity and justice prevail, and the most neglected promises are kept. The decision, then, which declares the obligation to pay a debt, whether it be given by the tribunals of the country or by those of international arbitration, which manifest the abiding zeal for justice as the basis of the political relations of nations, constitutes an indisputable title which can not be compared to the uncertain right of one whose claims are not recognized and who sees himself driven to appeal to force in order that they may be satisfied. As these are the sentiments of justice, loyalty, and honor which aniinate the Argentine people and have always inspired its policy, your excellency will understand that it has felt alarmed at the knowledge that the failure of Venezuela to meet the payments of its public debt is given as one of the determining causes of the capture of its fleet, |