We must demand by all means the execution of treaties and respect for the law.
This aspiration, citizen deputies, is firm and unmovable, and it is my desire, as I'm sure it it yours and that of all the Dominican people, to protect our rights decisively and firmness, if they are dismissed. To that effect, and needing to prepare ourselves for all possibilities that might emerge during our protests, I, as president of the Dominican Republic, Chief Executive Power, in exposing to the national representatives the unfavourable state of the commercial relations with the Republic of Haiti, without abandoning the hope that justice and good intentions will prevail in the end, solidly reestablishing agreement and harmony between the two governments, I call upon your patriotism for a vote of confidence, which will allow me to work with full liberty and effectively, in the exercise of the attributes of the Executive Power, submitted to the preliminary advice of the Legislative Power, in order to respond to the extreme necessity of preserving and defending the Republic against all attacks on its integrity or its rights.
On other points which demand an immediate solution or sanction, relative to the credit or support of private interests, the respective ministers will inform you. You will be able to deliberate and resolve, with the patriotic criterium that normally inspires your decision.
A loan of twenty million having recently just secured, and already partly fulfilled, in Europe, for the account of the Dominican Government, President Heureaux's declarations are a bit less than reassuring for the capitalists and the public who commit funds into the finances of Santo-Domingo.
