Haiti Historical Archive & Cultural Memory

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Gold was shipped from the Banque Nationale to New York on 17 December 1914

quantitativeEvidence strength: Direct primary

The claim

Contemporary records agree that gold was removed from the Banque Nationale de la République d'Haïti at Port-au-Prince and carried to New York aboard the U.S.S. Machias on 17 December 1914. The United States Department of State stated $500,000. The Haitian Department of Foreign Relations, using bank officials' depositions, described $907,800.20 as deposited and $388,000 as remaining, yielding a $519,800 difference.

This claim is disputed. It stays visible with the disagreement stated. — Two contemporaneous official records give different amounts for the same shipment. MigraTeck publishes both figures and does not select one as the uncontested amount.

Supporting evidence

  • The Secretary of State to the Minister of Haiti, December 31, 1914

    The Secretary of State to the Minister of Haiti, December 31, 1914, File No. 838.516/27, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Document 583.

    U.S. Department of State account gives $500,000.

    Evidence strength: Direct primaryLocated at: Document 583, File No. 838.516/27frus1914/d583 — File No. 838.516/27↗

  • Minister Bailly-Blanchard to the Secretary of State, December 30, 1914

    Minister Bailly-Blanchard to the Secretary of State, December 30, 1914, File No. 838.516/55, enclosing the Haitian Department of Foreign Relations note verbale, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Document 581.

    Haitian account gives $907,800.20 deposited and $388,000 remaining.

    Evidence strength: Direct primaryLocated at: Document 581, File No. 838.516/55frus1914/d581 — File No. 838.516/55↗

Contradicting evidence

Sources that disagree with this claim are kept here rather than dropped. Disagreement is evidence.

No contradicting source recorded.

Figures on this claim

Every figure travels with the source it came from and the place inside that source where it appears.

  • 500,000 United States dollars (gold)

    U.S. account of gold shipped on the U.S.S. Machias · 17 December 1914

    The Secretary of State to the Minister of Haiti, December 31, 1914, File No. 838.516/27, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Document 583. — Located at: Document 583, File No. 838.516/27

Interpretations

Named readings of this claim, with who holds them.

  • supportsUnited States Department of State, 31 December 1914

    The U.S. Department of State said bank officials considered the gold unsafe in Port-au-Prince and described the transfer as protective of American interests.

    The Secretary of State to the Minister of Haiti, December 31, 1914, File No. 838.516/27, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Document 583.

  • contestsDepartment of Foreign Relations of Haiti, December 1914

    The Haitian Department of Foreign Relations maintained that the funds belonged to the Haitian State's currency-retirement fund and could not leave the Treasury without formal Haitian Government consent.

    Minister Bailly-Blanchard to the Secretary of State, December 30, 1914, File No. 838.516/55, enclosing the Haitian Department of Foreign Relations note verbale, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Document 581.

  • contextualNational Bank vice-president communication forwarded by the U.S. Secretary of State, 30 December 1914

    The National Bank's vice-president subsequently proposed that Haiti's Minister of Finance travel to New York to negotiate the broader financial dispute. This record does not infer an outcome that the entered source does not establish.

    The Secretary of State to Minister Blanchard, December 30, 1914, File No. 838.516/40, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1914, Document 582.

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Methodology and integrity

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